Fall Into Me
by Witch Lisa
Summary: COMPLETE!! Author note up. A bit of post-Voldemort, lemony fluff for the potions master and a former student.
1. Prologue

PROLOGUE  
  
  
  
"Do you usually fall into bed with former students whenever you run into them in Muggle restaurants?" she teased breathlessly into the ear of the man she was making love with. She was delighted when he rose on his elbows to gaze intensely down at her. He stopped moving within her and opened his mouth as if to speak, then closed it --and she was given only a severe arched eyebrow in response. She smiled and gasped slightly as he then groaned, captured her lips roughly for a deep and passionate kiss and increased his former pace. Apparently, the taboo student-teacher-sex thing was turning him on, as well.  
  
'Gods, this is one hell of a one-night stand,' she thought. 'If I don't die of pleasure, I'll definitely remember this for the rest of my life.'  
  
He remained silent beyond the soft moans she elicited from him as she teased his nipples and ran her manicured nails across his back. Those raised eyebrows are framing one pair of mischievous and sexy black eyes, she thought, twisting her head to nip at a tasty looking earlobe. He wasn't all smoldering eyes, though, as he wasn't exactly lacking in other respects, her body murmured to her. Nice body for a man in his mid-forties, not exactly a 'hunk' but definitely not beginning to go to seed. The legs were especially shapely. Incredibly gentle and talented hands. Amazingly soft, long silky hair with just a hint of silver at the temples now - and longer than she remembered. Lips that had always looked so stern - but were as talented as his hands and she thought she might just have the marks to prove it by morning. And then there was the part of him that her body and most of her substantial intellect were intensely focused on at the moment.  
  
'Nope,' she mused, mentally comparing him to her ex-fiancé and other lovers. 'Nothing to complain about there. Not to mention the erotic mileage we're both getting out of this - Gods, I'm shagging a former teacher. And I like it.'  
  
A gasp later and he had yet again increased the pace, shifting her slightly underneath him. The glint in his eye became a sparkle as she moaned and felt the stirrings of yet another climax within her. As she clutched his shoulders and swiftly switched from rocking to bucking beneath him, he grinned evilly and buried himself more deeply inside her. She cried out his formal title and name as she came, while digging into the flesh of his shoulders.  
  
As he reached his own completion, minutes later, she beamed her own evil grin at him and hissed in his ear:  
  
"Professor Snape?"  
  
He shuddered and growled back: "Yes, Miss Granger?"  
  
"Fifty points to Slytherin, Professor."  
  
The reminder of the taboo they were breaking, despite their current ages, sent him over the edge quickly. Breathing heavily, he tossed his head to get his long hair out of his eyes and collapsed upon her.  
  
"Fifty points to Gryffindor, Miss Granger," he said, grinning madly into her hair. Minutes later he rose and made his way to her kitchen, coming back to the bedroom with two glasses of ice water. She took hers gratefully and drained it before snuggling down into the covers with him. He pulled her close to tangle their legs together and give him better access to her breasts.  
  
They lay entwined for quite some time, he still touching and stroking her body. She was tired and settled for laying her head upon his chest and toying with his sparse chest hair. Soon, she felt the resurgence of his interest hot against her thigh. She looked up at him in amazement and he just grinned ruefully. He easily rolled them over and positioned himself above her, teasing her and rubbing gently against her - asking for entrance. Bending his head to her, he made her head spin with a delicious kiss as he slid inside once again. She whimpered and her hips rose to meet him - only to find that he had stopped and was looking at her with a playful expression.  
  
"You don't happen to have any of your old school robes around, do you, Miss Granger?"  
  
She just smiled and pulled his head down to imprison his lips in a scorching kiss.  
  
"They are in my trunk," she replied, once she had rendered him breathless.  
  
The arched eyebrow returned - this time it was a question.  
  
"Yes, yes, I'll wear them - tomorrow. Deal?" she said, biting her lip in concern over what she had said. Tomorrow implied that this would be a bit more than a one-night stand. Maybe a weekend-stand, if there was such a thing, her quick mind thought. Her lover only sighed and flipped them over so she was astride him and he could guide her hips with his hands. He watched her intensely as she ground upon him - eyes locked and questions blazing in both of them. After a moment or two, he appeared to have made up his mind. He took a deep breath and replied:  
  
"You have a deal, Miss Granger. However, I think we need to finish this particular assignment first, don't you?"  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
  
  
  
  
tbc 


	2. Chapter one

CHAPTER ONE  
  
"This is going to be a fun night," groused Hermione Granger, as she viciously poked a button or two on her cell phone and tossed it in her purse with a thunk. Left alone again, she mused, with irritation.  
  
Since she and her bastard ex-fiance had split up, Harry and Ron had been trading off Hermione-duties and attempting to keep her company. It was annoying at first, but now, she was beginning to look forward to her weekly bout of being babysat by her school friends. They hadn't had as much contact as she would like in the five years since they left Hogwarts. After wearing stiff Muggle business suits at work every day, she was also grateful for the chance to spend some of her substantial paychecks on fun, hip Muggle clothing for nights such as this. Call her shallow, but she *was* still a girl, after all. Tonight's ensemble featured a very low-cut, flared sleeve gothic styled blouse with a tight black pencil skirt and impossibly high heels - perhaps a bit racy for a date with someone who is just a friend. However, it was more than worth the trouble of getting into tight or seductive clothing just to see the astonished and usually embarrassed look on Weasley's face when she turned up for dinner looking sexy.  
  
Sexy is fun once in a while, she mused, and good for the ego of those recently dumped. Besides, she couldn't be all work and no play, despite her new responsibilities at work and new lack of fun at home. She recently took over the management of three labs at the medical potions corporation she had worked for since leaving her apprenticeship in America. The three labs dealt with Muggle illnesses and worked in tandem with Britain's largest pharmaceutical company via a Ministry-Parliament pact. Hermione often mused that she was given the promotion based on her Muggle heritage rather than her actual potions abilities - a shock indeed to a system accustomed to hearing the term 'mudblood' more often than the phrase 'well done.'  
  
Tonight was Ron's turn, they had planned to meet at her favorite Muggle restaurant and bar - a trendy Notting Hill eaterie named Pharmacy. Besides the name being rather funny to Hermione and her coworkers - and thus a regular after-work stop for drinks in the rather minimalist, clinical- looking bar that closely resembled one of their labs in décor - it also served the best duck confit she'd eaten since her Hogwarts days. She had coaxed Harry and Ron away from their favorite dark, loud pub and dressed them up one night last spring then dragged them here. It was now their favorite haunt for "Hermione-duty."  
  
However, Ron was stuck at the Ministry that night and it appeared that she was going to be on her own. Flagging down her waitress, she informed her she was dining alone and asked to move into the bar area. Quickly ensconced on a barstool, chatting to the regular Thursday night bartender and laughing with him about the potions lab coworker that had overindulged the week before - and had to be practically carried out of the bar - Hermione felt a bit less lonely and deserted. Smiling she decided to order an appetizer of tiger prawns before leaving for home.  
  
"And may I have a Guanabana Gringo, as well, please Jon?" she added, before the bartender left to dispatch her order.  
  
"Guanabana Gringo?" a silky voice suddenly said from behind her. "Tequila and a few drops of fruit juice - a harsh shot, my dear, and not exactly the drink I would expect such a lovely young lady to be ordering."  
  
That voice sounds familiar, thought Hermione.  
  
"Shouldn't you be drinking something as elegant as you are, love? A chardonnay? Or perhaps you enjoy the new, popular ice wines?" The man behind the voice sat next to her, casually slipping his long legs onto the stool. "I am not much of a dessert wine drinker, however, I have found that -"  
  
He paused and his black eyes looked into her brown. She had known who the owner of the sexy voice was the moment he had come into view. Professor Severus Snape. Former Death Eater, Order of the Phoenix hero and recipient of the Order of Merlin, First Class. He was the only teacher she'd ever developed a crush on - something she never told anyone. He was also the man who had taunted her and doubted her intellect for years - he had even gone so far as to ask her if she was sure that potions should be her chosen profession, even though her potions NEWT scores were several points higher than his had been. He had taken house points and sneered and generally made the Dream Team's lives miserable for seven years.  
  
And he had just tried to pick her up at a bar.  
  
She couldn't wait until he realized exactly whom he was hitting on. She smiled seductively at him and waited for him to continue.  
  
"Hang on, don't I know you?" he said, tilting his head in confusion.  
  
Jon, the bartender, had chosen that moment to deliver Hermione's drink. He quirked a grin at Severus and asked him if he needed a refill. When Severus replied in the negative, Jon leaned over the bar conspiratorially.  
  
"Then how about a bit of advice? This woman is not exactly the type to fall for a pick-up line as lame as 'don't I know you?' She's probably the smartest woman I've ever met," he said, smiling at Hermione. He stood back up and continued; "you let me know if I need to dispose of the git for you, love."  
  
Hermione smiled back at him and laughed. She turned to the rather embarrassed and slightly angered potions master and waited for the light to dawn.  
  
"Hermione Granger?" he said, questioningly. She nodded. He took a deep breath and turned a nice shade of pink as he looked her over, his eyes lingering on her legs and cleavage. "But you're - you have - and you -"  
  
"Boobs, Professor, they are called boobs."  
  
Tension broken, they both laughed at her words and his obvious discomfiture. She drank her tequila in one gulp and sat it down as Jon brought her appetizer of prawns and a bowl of soup for Severus.  
  
"May I buy you a drink, Miss Granger?" drawled the professor.  
  
"Yes, you may. Actually, I think you owe me several after all of the house points you took away over the years," she grinned at him. "We may be here for hours while I have a right booze-up at your expense."  
  
"Sounds like a lovely evening," he said, grinning back. He turned to Jon and ordered a bottle of expensive-sounding champagne and asked if they could be moved to a table for their main courses. Jon nodded and set things quickly in motion. Within minutes, they were seated at a table in the main dining room, champagne in a bucket beside their table and a surprisingly companionable conversation underway.  
  
"So, exactly what are you doing in a Muggle establishment, in my neighborhood, attempting to pick up women who are at least 20 years your junior?" asked Hermione, eyes twinkling with mischief. She was rewarded with a trademark Snape scowl.  
  
"Still impertinent, I see," he snapped. He glared at her for another moment as they sipped the champagne. "However, I will ignore that obvious slur against my age and simply tell you I recently was graciously shown out of an eight-year relationship and thus I am allowed to ask pretty young women for dates if I so choose."  
  
"Eight years?" Hermione asked, sympathetically. He nodded and picked up his menu. "I'm sorry, Professor. Were you married?"  
  
He seemed surprised that she would ask - he was the greasy git potions master, after all, despite the fact that they were apparently on what most would consider a date at the moment. He raised an eyebrow at her and tried to decide whether he should confide in this young woman. Albus had certainly heard more about his relationship and its end than the kindly old wizard could stand. Perhaps a woman's point of view would be enlightening - and maybe even a bit therapeutic. She was looking at him nervously, obviously wondering if she had already gone too far and if their tenuous truce was broken.  
  
Their mutual indecision was interrupted as their waitress appeared and took their orders - duck confit for both. Soon, menus were cleared from the table and the odd pair was left alone with their even odder discussion.  
  
"No, we weren't married, Hermione," said Severus, tensely. "She was an Auror, my main contact besides Albus at the Ministry for years. We began seeing each other the summer after the TriWizard tournament. As you probably know, several Death Eaters were spies for our side during Voldemort's second rise - I wound up being their liaison and support with the Ministry. With Catherine's help - that is her name, Catherine - we were able to build a greater resistance within his ranks."  
  
"Which was instrumental in his ultimate defeat," input Hermione.  
  
"Yes. And during our first year of working together, we fell in love. We dated, I suppose is the correct term for it, for five years and she and I lived together in her apartment in London for the past three. And before you ask, Professor Sinistra is now Head of Slytherin, as I no longer wanted to live at the castle."  
  
"Hold on, eight years, you were together while I was still in school," she said, shocked.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"You mean to tell me that you were getting a good shagging regularly and you were still that much of a bastard?" she said.  
  
To her surprise - yet again - he laughed.  
  
"Yes, I'm afraid I am just a bastard - whether I'm getting any or not."  
  
She laughed with him for a moment, enjoying the spark of amusement in his black eyes. She didn't recall ever seeing him smile or laugh before. Not even at the expense of someone like Neville Longbottom.  
  
"Can I ask why you broke up?"  
  
"Of course." He sat silently, looking at her expectantly.  
  
"Merlin, man, you're still a frustrating git," she hissed after a few moments of silence. "Fine. Why did you break up?"  
  
"Because I proposed."  
  
Hermione's confusion must have been written all over her face. He sighed and nervously twirled his champagne flute in his fingers as he continued.  
  
"I wanted to be married, Hermione. I actually wanted to marry her after our first year together, but, back then we couldn't risk it. And then once it was safe - well, we moved in together first and then it just didn't seem to be a priority," he said, softly. "But, I always wanted a wife, family, children, a couple of cats running around, toys underfoot - the whole Quidditch pitch. So I asked her. We argued and I suddenly found myself looking for an apartment. I simply moved home to Hogwarts."  
  
Their dinner arrived at that moment - a lucky thing, Hermione mused, because she had no idea what to say. Eight years was a long time to waste on someone who didn't have the same life goals you did. 'I only wasted two on Geoffery, I guess I'm luckier than I thought,' she told herself. 'Poor Professor Snape, no wonder he's hitting the bars looking for a quick shag.'  
  
They dug into their dinners with enthusiasm, however, after a few bites, it was Hermione's turn to come clean.  
  
"All right, Miss Granger," began Snape. "I've given you enough information about my love life to put many first years into their graves. It's your turn. Why were you here alone tonight?"  
  
"Well, I was supposed to meet Ron," she began. He put his hand up swiftly.  
  
"Hermione, if you are going to go into details about a romance or sex life that you're having with Weasley - please spare me, in the name of all that is holy," he said, looking pained. "I walked in on Mr. Weasley and a variety of young ladies, in states of undress, more times than I can count during his days as a student. There are images yet burned into my mind that I would pay large amounts of galleons to someone if they could be removed."  
  
Hermione chuckled and took another sip of her champagne.  
  
"Sorry to disappoint, but Ron and I are still just friends," she said. "He and Harry decided to Hemione-sit once a week and take me out on the town, since my fiancé and I split up this summer. Geoff and I dated for a year and we were engaged for a year. I loved him, he found a coworker to 'love' during the lunch hour and we split. I'm afraid there were no heroic struggles or tales with us. No mood-killing disputes over our relationship and where it was going. We were disgustingly happy. Until I decided to skivvy off an afternoon at work - I did go into potions, by the way -- and go shopping. I wound up getting home an hour early and finding him in bed with Lady Shagging Godiva. He moved out. I'm attempting to move on."  
  
"I'm sorry, Hermione," he said, around a mouthful of duck. "I'm glad you found out, though, before you were married. I don't know which is worse - knowing that I could never have the home life that I wanted with Catherine all along yet consistently deluding myself that I could; or you knowing you *could* have it, but having it all snatched so rudely away."  
  
She nodded in understanding.  
  
"I think I'm happier in my situation," she said. "Not to be tactless, but I'd hate to think about losing eight years of my life. I may only be 23, but I realize that my clock is already ticking. Even witches have a limit to their fertility. Hell, the alarm would have been going off by the time we broke up if we had been in an eight year relationship."  
  
He chuckled. "Your clock? Good Merlin, you're just a child. I'm 43-years- old, Hermione. I should have been a father a long time ago. I think my clock rang and I hexed it into oblivion without ever actually waking up."  
  
She smiled and reached out to take his hand, barely believing she was doing so and blaming it on the fact that they were already on their second bottle of champagne.  
  
"I can't believe I'm saying this to Severus Snape," she said, "but I think you will make a great dad someday."  
  
He snorted, but did not pull his hand from her grasp.  
  
"Seriously, Severus," she said. "You aren't exactly warm and cuddly with your scowls and your billowing bat robes, but you were always intensely protective of the students and had great concern and personal responsibility for our well-being. Even a Gryffindor could tell that. That's an admirable quality in a father and husband. Catherine was a fool."  
  
"Thanks for that," he murmured, turning his hand over and twining his fingers cautiously with hers. They sat that way, in tense silence, until the waitress returned to take their plates and offer dessert. Severus pulled his hand from hers and smiled, first to Hermione and then to the waitress.  
  
"I believe that this lovely young lady loves chocolate - is my memory correct, Hermione?" he said. She nodded, surprised. "The triple chocolate mousse is no longer on the menu, but do you think that the chef might be able to -"  
  
"Certainly, sir. Two?"  
  
Severus nodded and turned back to Hermione with a small smile. "Trust me."  
  
She took the moment to excuse herself to the ladies room, where she spent a good deal of time staring at her image in the mirror and wondering why she was having dinner with Professor Snape. And why on earth was she enjoying herself? And for Merlin's sake, what made her hold his hand?  
  
And worse, why was she considering asking him to come home with her?  
  
When Hermione returned to their table, she saw that two oversized martini glasses filled with layers of delicate chocolate mousse were waiting for her. Severus was twirling his spoon in his hand and he smiled and stood as she returned to the table. He gestured for her to take a bite of her dessert and she did. Her eyes widened as the taste hit her tongue. 'I think I am in dessert heaven,' she mused. She looked at Severus to see if it had the same effect on him - apparently it did, as he was taking his second bite with his eyes blissfully closed.  
  
He opened them to find Hermione watching him with an odd expression on her face.  
  
"Hermione?" he asked. "Do you like it?"  
  
"Oh, yes," she replied. "But, I think I'm going to have to ask you to leave."  
  
"What?" he said, startled.  
  
"I really think I need to be alone with it," she said, eyes twinkling.  
  
"That good, huh?" he asked, eyes crinkling as he returned her grin.  
  
"Bloody close to orgasmic, Severus," she laughed.  
  
She finished her dessert slowly, watching Severus closely the entire time. He, for his part, was busily watching her. Neither knew exactly what to do, now that their meal was coming to a close. Too soon, the last of the champagne was drunk, the dishes and glasses cleared and the bill paid - by Severus, of course, who waved off Hermione's attempts to chip in.  
  
"I probably owe you two dinners after the atrocious lines I fed you when I tried to 'pick you up,'" he said, smiling and standing. "You said you lived in Notting Hill, may I walk you home?"  
  
She nodded. With a firm hand at the small of her back, he escorted her out of the restaurant. Minutes later, they were standing on her stoop and Severus Snape was debating whether or not to kiss his former student good night. 'It's probably too soon for both of us,' he mused.  
  
If Hermione was thinking it was too soon, she didn't show it - she stood on tiptoe and slid a hand into his long, long hair. She pulled him easily to her lips for a soft kiss that tasted of tequila and champagne. Soon, the kiss had deepened, they were both breathing a bit more heavily and Severus' new jeans were feeling a bit constrictive. They broke the kiss and looked into each other's eyes questioningly and a bit unsteadily due to the bottles of champagne.  
  
"Come inside, Severus," she whispered, bravely. "Stay the night."  
  
"Are you sure?" he asked, stunned and aroused at the same time. "You've had a lot to drink, Hermione and I don't want to take advantage of you -"  
  
"Professor." The word sent shivers up his spine when whispered seductively by a woman who was rubbing against his body with hers. "I have a confession to make."  
  
"What is that, Hermione?" he asked breathlessly.  
  
"I used to fantasize about you - you and your desk in the potions classroom," she said. He swallowed hard.  
  
"Really?" was all he could choke out. She nodded, smiling at his discomfort and excitement.  
  
She took her key from her purse and unlocked the door to her building. Opening it, she stepped inside and reached her hand out to him. He took it and followed her into the building without a sound.  
  
  
  
tbc 


	3. Chapter two

CHAPTER 2  
  
The morning sun was streaming in through the windows when Severus realized that someone was repeatedly poking him in the arm. Her attempted to ignore the annoying poke, poke, poke, but it would not go away. And, Merlin, why on earth was the sun so bright this morning? What the hell did Albus do to his dungeon?  
  
Cautiously opening one eye, his dark gaze fell upon the source of his annoyance. Hermione Granger. Suddenly, last nights events came flooding back to him. Hours of exploring each other's bodies, literally hours of foreplay and teasing before they finally couldn't stand it any longer and he took her. The glare disappeared from his eyes and a tiny grin appeared on his face - he had taken her three times, if he recalled correctly. Not bad for a man his age, he mused. He also recalled that it was damn near the best sex he'd had in his life - or at least the best one-night stand he'd ever had. If anyone had told him yesterday morning that he would be spending the night in the arms of the Gryffindor know-it-all, he would have laughed himself senseless. Now, he was desperately hoping that she meant it when she promised to wear her old school uniform and robes for him tonight - and that when he left her home today, it wasn't the end of it. Whatever 'it' was. Aside from incredible sex, that is.  
  
Shaking his head slightly to clear it of memories that were stirring other parts of his body to action, he tentatively smiled at the young woman and former student who was standing beside the bed. She had not bothered to dress yet and held in her hand his passport to a better morning - hangover relief potion.  
  
"Oh, thank Merlin," he said, taking it from her and wincing. "How many bottles of champagne did we drink?"  
  
"Two, I believe."  
  
"And we both had a few before we ran into each other, too."  
  
"Actually, we both had a few before you picked me up, Professor. There was no 'running into each other,'" she said, attempting a grin.  
  
He grinned back. "Impertinent little girl," he said in his best professor voice. "I don't drink very much, usually. Ugh, no wonder I feel like a Hippogriff is sitting on my head and House Elves put their socks on my teeth," he mumbled, unstoppering the vial and downing it like a shot of whiskey.  
  
"House Elves don't wear socks, Severus," she smirked.  
  
He just glared at her and thumped the vial onto her nightstand.  
  
She watched him as the obvious relief washed over his face and his eyes began to clear. Silence fell as they looked at each other and tried desperately to find something to say or do. After all, what do you say to the best student you ever had after you've spent the night shagging her?  
  
"You don't happen to have an extra toothbrush, do you?" he finally said.  
  
"I'm the daughter of two dentists, what do you think?" she teased, seeming relieved.  
  
"Lead on, MacDuff," he said.  
  
She escorted him into the bathroom and rummaged through a drawer, searching for an extra toothbrush. Severus was contemplating the cute posterior that was temptingly displayed for him as she bent over the cabinet and was deciding that he could just be late for his meeting at the Ministry that morning - when she gasped and stood straight up, holding a pink vial in her small hand. Disbelief was clearly written across her face as she slowly turned to him and held out the vial, apparently speechless. Confused, he took it and read the label of the mass-produced potion. "Emergency Contraceptive Potion for Witches." He nearly groaned and looked at Hermione, disheartened. She shrugged silently and shook her head.  
  
"Oh, shit," was all he could say.  
  
***  
  
  
  
Hours later, he was sitting in itchy, constrictive dress robes in a Ministry board room - listening to idiot after idiot drone on and on. Occasionally, an idiot would ask for his opinion on this Dark wizard or that supposed plot, but for the most part he was being left alone to his thoughts.  
  
He had left Hermione's apartment in a bit of a daze that morning. He made it to the Ministry on time, teeth finally cleaned, showered and even fed. As they sat over their breakfast, she had been silent until he finally gathered up the courage to speak.  
  
"Hermione, look at me." She shuddered like a first-year and continued her contemplation of her muffin. "Hermione."  
  
She finally lifted her gaze to him. He thought she looked like a fairy creature, sitting there so forlornly in her gauzy white nightgown. She took a deep breath and whispered a barely-audible: "I'm sorry. Geoff took the male contraceptive potion when we were together because the female long- term potion makes me sick, so I haven't had to worry about it for so long."  
  
He sighed and threw down his napkin. Reaching across the table to take her hand as she had his the night before, he looked at the pretty young woman that had propositioned him with so much confidence and poise the night before. She looked like she had lost every ounce of self-esteem she had - just in the past half hour.  
  
"Hermione, you have nothing to be sorry for. I don't recall offering to run to the local chemist shop for a box of Muggle condoms last night or to Floo to Hogwarts and pick up a potion for either of us. We'd been drinking, for one. And two, we've both recently come out of good relationships that ended badly - I needed last night and I think you did, too. So, don't blame yourself for not thinking straight, because I have to tell you, birth control wasn't foremost on my mind last night either."  
  
He smiled and couldn't resist the tease: "And I am the adult in this situation after all, Miss Granger."  
  
That brought a bit of sparkle back into her eyes. She smiled shyly at him and returned to her breakfast. After he had helped her clear up their few dishes, he went into her bedroom to finish dressing for the day. His eyes fell on her nightstand and the vial she had apparently placed there while he was in the shower. He walked over and picked it up, reading the label - well, it wouldn't do much good for her to take it now if they had somehow conceived last night, he thought. 'But, if she takes it tonight, I suppose it won't hurt her or a -- the baby - if there is one already.' That thought made his head hurt a bit and he shook it slightly. Hermione entered the bedroom at that moment and was startled to see her former professor contemplating the vial. He looked from the vial to Hermione's face and carefully returned the pink glass to her nightstand.  
  
"Am I to take it that - this being here means - well, I mean that I wondered if -" he stammered, suddenly uncomfortable.  
  
"Severus Snape, speechless," she said, smiling. She folded her arms and leaned against the doorframe. "I could get used to seeing that. And, the answer to your question is 'yes.'"  
  
He returned her smile and was across the room in a flash and pulled her into his arms for their first kiss of the new day. When he finally released her mouth, they were both breathless and both grinning like schoolchildren.  
  
"I'll be here at six," he said. "Dinner and a play? Does that sound good?"  
  
"Yes, and I'll make sure to locate my school robes for you before I head off to work," she said, grinning evilly.  
  
It took every ounce of willpower he had to make it out the door.  
  
  
  
So, that was how the evil potions master of Hogwarts wound up sitting, impatiently listening to very important scouting reports on the Dark - and dreaming of another night with a former student.  
  
That student wasn't having a much better day than her professor, either. Stuffed into a formal business skirt suit and pumps, she was leading a brainstorming session with both wizards and Muggle scientists about leukemia. Neither culture had conquered this disease as of yet, but Hermione felt confident that this group would eventually do it. She didn't participate in the discussion much, however, as today her mind kept going back to bed. And back to her professor's arms.  
  
'Who would have thought?' she mused, suppressing a smile. 'The scary thing is, that I can't wait to see him again tonight. Harry and Ron will die when I tell them. Even if they get the edited version.'  
  
She snuck out of the office an hour early to run home, find her old robes and make sure they were charmed to fit her womanly curves, and to get ready for her date with Professor Snape.  
  
Date with Professor Snape. Despite her brief teenaged crush on the man, those are four words she never thought she could possibly think, much less act upon. She laughed to herself as she opened her closet doors. 'What exactly do you wear on a date with your Professor?' Her eyes took in her sexy-embarrass-Ron clothes and skimmed over her work clothes to land on a simply, yet subtly sexy wrap dress. The dress was conservative in cut, yet the neckline was low and it would come off with the pull of the tie. Perfect, she mused, just like him.  
  
'Whoa, where did that thought come from? He is far from perfect. Except maybe in bed.'  
  
She took a deep breath and calmed down as she magically touched up her makeup and polished her shoes. She shimmied into her dress and switched purses just as the buzzer to her door sounded. After letting him in, they both stood looking at each other uncomfortably for a moment before he drew her into his arms for a tight hug.  
  
"No regrets?" he asked, timidly. The doubt in his eyes was as clear as the rather prominent nose of his face. "We don't have to go out tonight if you don't want to, Hermione. I can leave right now and you'll never have to see me again. Just tell me."  
  
"No regrets," she said, pulling back and dragging her lips across his cheek to capture his mouth in a brief yet passionate kiss. "But I think if we're going to go, we need to go now. If not, then you need to get naked fast."  
  
He chuckled and smiled down on her, offering her his arm. They made their way to the Leaky Cauldron, surprisingly, and sat down for a good meal of hearty stew and pumpkin juice followed by cauldron cakes. Stomach full and happy, Hermione leaned back in her chair and looked contentedly at her companion.  
  
"Thanks for bringing me here," she said. "I work partially with Muggles and live so immersed in the Muggle world that I don't get to enjoy things like pumpkin juice and cauldron cakes that often. I need to come to Hogwarts for a visit and let the House Elves and Dumbledore feed me until I waddle."  
  
"Yes, you do need to come visit Hogwarts," he said. "Soon. Although, if the rest of the staff knew what had happened between us - or that we are apparently attempting a - a relationship -"  
  
The word was a question. A question asked with apprehension and a raised eyebrow. She simply nodded to him and he smiled and went on:  
  
"If they knew we were seeing each other, I think it would cause a few of them some nightmarish sleepless nights. And Minerva would definitely castrate me if she knew the details of what happened last night," he said, setting both of them laughing. "But, at some point in all of - this, it would be nice to bring you home to Hogwarts for a weekend. I'm sure Albus will be twinkling all over the place if I did."  
  
"And Professor Trelawney would take credit for having foreseen it many years ago," Hermione chimed in. "Although, you do realize that Tom is a gossip of the highest order and news of our being here tonight together will be broadcast almost as effectively as if it were in the Daily Prophet?"  
  
"It crossed my mind."  
  
They smiled at each other and Severus stood to find Tom and settle the bill. Seconds after he left the table, an old schoolmate of Hermione's sidled up for a little 'chat.'  
  
"Little mudblood witch is a Slytherin's whore," drawled an obviously drunk Marcus Flint around his disturbingly crooked teeth. "Who would have guessed you'd turn out so hot, Hermione? When you're done with the professor, why don't you come on over to my place?"  
  
Hermione kept her mouth shut and abruptly stood, looking around for Severus. Not seeing him, she made a move towards the door. Flint grabbed her arm and spun her around, pressing his wand into her side.  
  
"All it would take is a swish of my wand, Hermione, and you would -" Flint began, before he was spun around and slammed to a table. The pub fell silent as Severus loomed over the young son of a Death Eater, holding both their wands in his upraised fist.  
  
"If my wand was that small, I wouldn't be drawing attention to myself, mate," sneered Severus. "Never touch Hermione again. Do. You. Understand. Me?"  
  
Flint nodded and, when released, bolted for the door. Slowly, conversation resumed in the pub. Severus made his way to Hermione, who had been propelled away from the potential fight by Tom.  
  
"Are you all right?" he asked softly. He tossed Flint's wand to Tom in disgust.  
  
"I'm fine," she said, sinking into a gentle hug. "Thank you."  
  
Severus offered to skip the theatre and head for her apartment or his rooms at Hogwarts, but she would have none of it. Marcus Flint was not going to ruin an otherwise lovely evening. He had selected a new, upbeat and popular musical for them to see and she thought it was just the ticket for rescuing the evening.  
  
And it was. They left the theatre humming, happy and contentedly holding hands. Finding a dark corner, they apparated to Hermione's apartment and soon found themselves entwined on her sofa.  
  
"Gods, I could get used to this," Severus murmured as she removed his shirt and began kissing her way down his torso. The wool of her old school jumper scratched erotically against his skin, causing him to close his eyes and sigh. She teased his navel for a moment before bending to remove his trousers, shorts and socks with a quick wave of her wand. He gasped as she directed her attentions and her warm mouth to his erection. Someone had taught her well, he chuckled to himself a few minutes later. Suddenly, his laughter caught in his throat as she moved to straddle him and abruptly filled herself with him. He opened his eyes to the vision of Hermione Granger, Head Girl, in her school jumper and skirt - riding him with a mischievous grin on her face. He groaned out her name and rose up to bury himself deeply and was immediately rewarded by a soft moan: "Severus."  
  
She smiled and drew his hands to her skirt-covered hips and whispered: "Teach me."  
  
From that moment on it was a jumble of limbs, sighs, peaks and touches. She reached bliss first and quickly, crying out "Professor!" as she came. He held on longer and slowly stripped off her uniform as he continued to thrust into her, finally succumbing as he magically removed her skirt. They collapsed on the sofa together and dozed for a bit before Severus claimed old age and a bad back - and they made their way into the bedroom.  
  
Where the vial of pink potion was sitting innocently on Hermione's nightstand.  
  
"Shit," he said, shaking his head.  
  
"I think you said that already," she said. "But I do believe it is the only appropriate choice of words at the moment. What can I say, other than I forgot again. I am sorry."  
  
"And you've said that already," he smirked. "It takes two to tango, as they say. You didn't forget on your own. Maybe, if we wind up together long- term, you could go on the Muggle Pill? Or I could take the male potion, if you like. We should probably discuss it."  
  
She nodded: "Yes, some time when we aren't naked and just moments past very satisfying climaxes would be preferable."  
  
He laughed and flopped onto the bed, holding his hand to her. He yanked her arm and she fell on top of him, giggling.  
  
"Oooh, I didn't realize the studious Hermione Granger was capable of a girlish giggle," he said.  
  
"Yeah, well, I didn't know that vile Professor Snape was capable of civilized conversation, much less passion," she countered.  
  
"I'm not really, it's all an act. The end of years of covert work with the Death Eaters will do that to you," he said. "In all seriousness, Hermione, some day I need to talk to you a bit about my past. I'm fairly certain you know a good portion of it. But, I think you deserve -"  
  
She silenced him with a kiss.  
  
"Not now, Severus. Make love to me."  
  
"Yes, ma'am," he said and pulled her to lie beside him, caressing her body once again.  
  
She arched into his touch and then shifted to accommodate his questing mouth and tongue as they dropped lower and lower. 'Gods' she thought, 'he has one hell of a tongue.' Moments later, she was panting and shuddering and he was lying fully on top of her, looking rather pleased with himself. He moved to enter her and then stopped - looking at the vial on the nightstand.  
  
"Hermione, do you want to - although, I'm not sure how much good it would do, to be honest. If we conceived earlier tonight -" he stammered, not quite sure what to say.  
  
She shrugged and smiled up at him. "In for a penny, in for a pound, Severus?"  
  
"Something like that," he smiled. "But, if you would be more comfortable you should drink it. I just didn't want you to misunderstand its effectiveness - since it's a per- um - encounter potion."  
  
"I work for the corporation that produces it, Severus, I'm well aware of its indications and effectiveness," she said, reaching for his groin and cupping him - causing him to groan incoherently. "What was that, love?"  
  
He looked at her seriously for a moment and attempted to form words in his lust-fogged brain. Finally, he sighed and said: "Hermione, you have no idea how you make me feel. I never thought I would feel like this again." He paused. "I could very easily fall --"  
  
"Shhhh," she said, putting a finger to his lips. "Don't say something you'll regret in the morning."  
  
He reached between them and guided his erection into her once again, sighing as he settled into her. 'She feels like - like home,' he thought crazily.  
  
"Hermione, I could never regret anything of the past two days with you. Absolutely nothing," he said.  
  
It was hours before they slept. Luckily, Hermione blearily thought before finally drifting off, neither of us have to work in the morning. And for the first time in weeks, she was looking forward to a weekend away from the office and at home. Snuggling into his arms more deeply, she finally fell into a contented slumber. 


	4. Chapter three

CHAPTER 3  
  
Sunday morning dawned bright and cheery.  
  
And despite the end of Voldemort's reign, despite the fact that it was still summer holiday for another week and there were no students around to annoy him AND despite the fact that there was a very pretty brunette sleeping in his arms - Severus Snape still hated mornings. Especially mornings that were bright and cheery. And Hermione's French blue and yellow toile bedroom just exacerbated the detested bright part and made his head hurt and made him long for his dark dungeon bedroom at Hogwarts.  
  
Wincing and shifting to better look at the young witch he was holding, he thought about the past few days and the whirlwind that had suddenly become his life. She was fresh flowers in crystal vases and yellow toile and floaty French fabrics while he was granite fireplaces, sooty cashmere and heavy ancient tapestries. We couldn't be more different, he mused drearily. I wonder how long it will take for the novelty of shagging your professor to wear off? I should be history by Christmas, he thought. He sighed and carefully slipped from between the buttery yellow sheets, trying not to disturb his sleeping partner. Grabbing his clothing from her sofa and creeping into her bathroom, he shut the door and cast a soft silencing charm on it, before turning on her shower full-blast and stepping under the steaming water. He sighed again.  
  
This relationship had seemed so much easier last night.  
  
It didn't this morning.  
  
They had decided to spend all day Saturday together, doing a spot of shopping and lunch in Diagon Alley. Severus needed supplies for next week's classes and Hermione had to be fitted for bridesmaids robes for Ginny Weasley's wedding. It had been a wonderful day - ice cream sundaes, an hour spent investigating ingredients in a potions shop, laughing at Hermione in her hideous bridesmaid robes, her quiet insistence that he hold her hand as they walked down the street. Stupidly, in the bliss of the moment, he had imagined taking Hermione to his vault at Gringotts and slipping his grandmother's engagement ring on her finger sometime before lunch and after purchasing dragon's blood. Now, fantasies about rings and fun, sunny afternoons in Diagon Alley seemed to be just that - fantasies.  
  
He snorted. 'Shit, three nights of sex and you're thinking about marriage to a woman half your age,' he sneered to himself and the vanilla-scented soap. Briefly, he wondered if he shouldn't concoct some emergency and sneak out while the sneaking was good. He WAS good at sneaking, after all. A few more appearances with him in the wizarding world and the Daily Prophet gossip pages would be predicting their marriage by Christmas. And Hermione's prospects for a good marriage to a nice wizard her own age someday would be severely hurt. A long-term relationship between the potions master and the corporate potions mistress would never work. Oh, bullocks, who was he kidding? A long-term relationship between a former Death Eater and a sweet, young thing like Hermione would never work.  
  
But that didn't explain the butterflies playing Quidditch in his stomach. Or the fact that they grew more active whenever the thoughts of Hermione, love and marriage flew through his mind. No, he was simply lonely and this was a rebound relationship for both of them. A fun, exciting and brief rebound relationship. A rather kinky and forbidden relationship, as well. Soon, he would go back to Hogwarts and she would forget him and -  
  
Shit.  
  
'People don't really fall in love this fast do they?' he thought, rather desperately.  
  
'Well, you have known Hermione on and off for more than a decade, so it isn't like you were strangers last Thursday night,' a little voice answered.  
  
Snape shook his head to clear it of the voices and swiftly turned off the water. He stepped out of the shower and grabbing what had quickly become 'his' towel, he dried off and muttered a few charms to set his beard, hair and wrinkled clothing to rights. Removing the silencing charm, he opened the door and leaned against the doorframe for a moment just looking at Hermione sleeping. His stomach did the requisite flip-flops that it did every time he looked at her. 'Merlin,' he sighed, 'maybe you can fall in love this fast.'  
  
A quick glance at the nightstand took in the vial of potion that they kept neglecting to attend to. If he was going to hold a conversation with himself, he may as well be honest - if Hermione wound up pregnant from this weekend, he wouldn't mind in the slightest. Sure, it might be a bit embarrassing at first, but the gossips would quickly find something else to occupy their time with. And he would be left with a family. If she would have him and wanted to have his baby - big ifs there. 'Whew,' he thought, 'I have got to quit thinking like this.'  
  
Quickly walking the short distance to Hermione's side, he gently kissed her lips and whispered "Good morning." She groaned and opened one eye to look at him before blessing him with a sweet smile.  
  
"Are you awake enough to talk for a moment, Hermione?" he said, softly.  
  
She took in the fact that he was showered and dressed already and immediately expected the worst. "You're leaving."  
  
"No," he said, leaning down to kiss her until she believed him. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you about this."  
  
He picked up the vial and handed it to her. She blushed and took it. Silently, they each contemplated what their carelessness and a quick decision could produce.  
  
"'In for a penny, in for a pound' doesn't sound as sensible as it did earlier this morning, does it?" she said, ruefully.  
  
Severus sat silently for a moment, considering her seriously.  
  
"Yes," he said. "It does."  
  
"What?"  
  
Severus sighed and took a moment to gather his thoughts.  
  
"Hermione, this is going to sound crazy. But, I'm in my mid-forties and I gave up a lot of things during my service to the Order of the Phoenix and the Ministry. I was happy to do so, and I'm not entirely sure it makes up for my past -" he paused and abruptly stood. "Hell, Hermione, I want to have children. I - I suppose I should just tell you all of it now."  
  
He began pacing in front of the bed but did not continue. Hermione sat up and reached a hand out to her obviously distressed lover. He took it, squeezed and sat nervously back down.  
  
"Catherine and I," he began softly. "Catherine became pregnant twice in the eight years we were together. She did not want children, so I prepared the correct potion to end each one. If it had been only my decision, I would be a father now."  
  
Silence held both of them in its grasp for a moment as the depth of the situations he had described so simply sank in. Tears filled Hermiones eyes and threatened to spill down her cheeks as she waited for him to continue.  
  
"Hermione, I know it is crazy and irresponsible and there are about a million things wrong with what I'm about to say," he said, not looking at her and running his free hand through his hair. "But, if we have - conceived, this weekend, I would - That is, please, have the baby, Hermione. You don't have to promise to marry me or spend the rest of your life with me, and I will provide for the two of you as much as you will let me. I am from an old wizarding family and money is no -"  
  
Hermione smiled and stopped him with a soft kiss. Startled, it took him a few seconds to respond. She quickly deepened the kiss and reached to begin work on his shirt and trousers. Automatically, Severus began to respond to her actions and the stress of the morning and hungrily pressed her back onto the bed and it's soft sheets. Soon, his clothes were once again wrinkled on the floor and he had joined her under the covers. Breaking yet another searing kiss, he raised up on his elbows and searched her face questioningly.  
  
"Hermione?" he said, and watched her as she fished under the blankets for the vial of potion and purposefully set it on the nightstand once again. Settling back on the bed with a nervous smile on her face, she took a shaky breath and blew it out. She then reached up to bury her hand in his hair and draw him down to her lips for a breathless kiss. Her other hand drifted lower to guide him inside her. Kissing the woman beneath him deeply, he slowly began truly making love to her for the first time.  
  
'This isn't just sex anymore,' he thought, wondrously, 'but I still can't believe I'm in love with Hermione Granger of all people.'  
  
Moments later a panting and rather disoriented potions master pulled away from her embrace and looked at the young woman in awe.  
  
"Gods, Hermione," he breathed. "Did we just decide -"  
  
"To have a baby? I think we did."  
  
"This is crazy, you realize that?" he paused and looked at her, she only smiled in reply. "Hermione?"  
  
"Yes," she replied and began kissing his throat and collarbone.  
  
"Hermione?" he tried again.  
  
"I love you, Professor Snape," she finally said. "It's too soon and it's as insane as the rest of this relationship, I know. But, I spent a good part of the time you were sleeping last night pacing the floor and attempting to decipher exactly what we were doing together. And I finally figured it out. We're falling in love."  
  
He looked at her in shock before laughing softly. "And I spent my entire shower this morning trying to decide if I was crazy or if I was in love with you."  
  
"And what did you decide?"  
  
"I love you, too, Miss Granger." He lowered his mouth to hers and captured her lips in another passionate kiss.  
  
"So we're both insane?" she asked, between his hungry kisses.  
  
"Gods help us, we're both insane," he said. 


	5. Chapter four

CHAPTER FOUR  
  
Many hours later, the pair finally managed to pull themselves reluctantly from Hermione's bed. A shower together quickly turned into an aquatic aerobic event and it was yet another hour before they headed out the front door in search of lunch before going to Hogwarts to visit with Albus over tea later that afternoon. Severus needed to drop by the apartment he had shared with his former lover to look for a book he had apparently forgotten to pack, so they clasped hands and apparated to "his" part of London.  
  
"Follow me, the best curry in London is around the corner," smiled Severus. He kept a tight hold on Hermione's hand as he led her to a small restaurant. An occasional passerby would wave or smile at him and they were stopped more than once by his former neighbors for small chats - apparently they were curious as to whom the new young lady was on his arm.  
  
"I have to admit, I did like living in this area," he said, wistfully, as they entered the eatery. "It was a good three years for me. No students, no other wizards or witches around, no reminders of the war. These Muggles didn't even know that their city could have been leveled so easily by Voldemort, had he been allowed to grow in strength."  
  
"But, you didn't let him," smiled Hermione, gently. He shook his head and squeezed her hand as they sat down at a corner table. "Severus, you were one of the key players in his defeat, you received the Order of Merlin, First Class - if I remember correctly. Take the credit, you deserve it."  
  
"I'd prefer to forget the past," he said, after placing their order. "The year that I was a Death Eater and the years afterwards when I was working for Dumbledore - it's all a blur of nervous energy, stress and self-hatred. Until -"  
  
"Until?"  
  
"Well, until I met Catherine," he said, looking uncomfortable. "I was still under unbearable stress and a total bastard to everyone - I thought I'd admit that before you decided to chime in and remind me. She was calm and easy to live with. She counteracted my evil with cool composure, I think. Anyway, she gave me something positive to focus on and lent some stability to my life. Of course, the positive thing I focused on was marriage and a family after Voldemort's defeat and we know what happened with that pipedream, don't we?"  
  
"I am sorry, Severus," said Hermione, quietly. "But, I am not sorry that everything in your life has led you to me. If that makes sense."  
  
"I understand what you mean," he said, grinning a bit. "I suppose that someone had to teach me to love, so that once we found each other, I would be ready for the commitment. So, all of the pain was worth it. Because now I have you."  
  
He leaned over and stole a soft kiss. Hermione pulled a face at him as the waiter set down their two chicken curries and sodas.  
  
"I think, Severus, that is the most disgustingly sweet thing I've ever heard you say," she said, fighting back a giggle. "Where is Professor Snape and what did you do to him?"  
  
Severus laughed with her and tucked into his lunch with enthusiasm. "He's still here. In fact, I need to get my - what is it the Quidditch players say?-- 'game face' back on next week. After all, I have first years to frighten, Miss Granger."  
  
He followed that comment with a scowl and glare that would have made the 15- year-old Hermione Granger quake in her Mary Janes. Twenty-three-year-old Hermione Granger just laughed and threw her napkin at him.  
  
"Merlin, those poor children!" she said. "What on earth will they do if we are having a baby? The mere idea of you having sex will put at least half of the Gryffindors in the infirmary and the fact that your child's mother is a Gryffindor will literally kill your Slytherins."  
  
He stopped eating and looked at Hermione for a few minutes as she ate.  
  
"How long until we know for sure?" he said, attempting nonchalance.  
  
"Muggle testing? About two weeks, give or take. Wizard testing? Less than one week." Hermione smiled at him shyly. "Severus, I'd prefer waiting for the Muggle test."  
  
"Merlin, Hermione, why?"  
  
"The wizard tests show the sex of the baby and the mother has to do the incantation herself. I have never wanted to know - I'd prefer the surprise at the end not the beginning, if you don't mind. Muggle pregnancy tests just confirm that you are or aren't pregnant," she said, shrugging. "But, then if you have a burning desire to know what we're having -"  
  
A long, elegant hand snaked under the table and slid up her thigh.  
  
"There is only one thing in this world that I have a burning desire for, Hermione," he said, grinning evilly.  
  
"Eat," she said, pushing him away playfully and pointing at his plate. "We'll never get your book at this rate and besides -"  
  
She stopped and smiled at him. He quirked an eyebrow in response.  
  
"Besides, you need your strength for later tonight," she said, attempting a sultry voice. Apparently, it worked as the hand still lingering on her thigh twitched and began to creep upwards again.  
  
"That sounds like a challenge, Miss Granger," he growled. "And I accept."  
  
Too soon, their dishes were cleaned and cleared and they had to complete their task for the afternoon. Severus was loathe to set foot in his former apartment. Even though he had Floo'd Catherine the day before to make sure his key still worked and that he was welcome to have a look through their bookcases - it still made him nervous. Catherine had even promised to find a Muggle movie to go see that afternoon, so he would have plenty of time to dig out the old and rare potions text he was searching for.  
  
But he still did not want to go.  
  
Abruptly standing, he looked down at Hermione and smiled a tight smile.  
  
"Shall we?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Let's go and get this over with. I need the text for a potion I want to work on my seventh years with or I would just let her keep the bloody thing," he said, roughly and nervously.  
  
"I'm not going, Severus, I'll wait for you here," Hermione replied, biting her lip.  
  
"What?" It was his turn to be confused.  
  
"Severus. You are going to your old apartment. Where you lived with your girlfriend of eight years. Where she still lives," Hermione explained patiently.  
  
"So?"  
  
"So, don't you think it's a bit inappropriate for you to take your new bit of stuff with you?" she asked. "What if Catherine comes home early? What if she really wants to talk to you? What if -"  
  
"Hermione," he began. "If she's there, we'll say hello. It's been several months and you are crazy if you think she hasn't taken lovers herself in that time - she can't be angry or cause a scene. Besides, she split up with me, not the other way around. She should be happy for me."  
  
"And, trust me, she doesn't want me back. Hermione, think. You know what a bastard I can be?" She nodded. "Well, you should have seen me when she dumped me."  
  
They both grinned and he offered her his hand and she took it.  
  
"Okay, let's go."  
  
A short walk later and they were entering a bright and lovely apartment building and heading up a flight of stairs to Severus' old home. His hand shook a bit as he put the key into the lock, but Hermione pretended not to notice. He pretended not to notice that she was pretending not to notice - and was grateful for the subterfuge on both parts. Walking inside, he flipped on the Muggle electrical switch to turn on the lights and made a beeline to a large and mostly empty bookcase on the far side of the slightly messy living room.  
  
"Have a seat, Hermione," he said. "This shouldn't take but a moment."  
  
It took a bit longer than a moment. As Hermione perched uneasily on the edge of the sofa, Severus searched the bookcases in the lounge and in the study before excusing himself to double check his old chest of drawers and nightstand in the bedroom. Moments after Severus left, Hermione heard a key turning in the lock and a rather shapely, middle-aged, petite blonde came through the door - struggling with an overabundance of packages and grocery sacks.  
  
She swore and pulled rather viciously at the key, which appeared to be stuck. Hermione instinctively hopped up from the couch and walked to her and caught several packages before they hit the floor. The woman looked at her in shock, eyes narrowing.  
  
"May I ask who you are?" she said, yanking the key free and slamming the door.  
  
Hermione walked to the coffee table and set down the packages she still held, turned and held out her shaking hand.  
  
"I'm so sorry, this is awkward," she said, as they shook hands. "I'm Hermione Granger. Severus and I went to lunch together around the corner and since he was looking for that potions text today - well, it seemed silly for me to apparate home for just a few minutes alone. We're on our way to meet with Headmaster Dumbledore for tea."  
  
Catherine stood quietly, coldly examining the petite brunette. The elegant woman was dressed in a very expensive-looking Muggle pantsuit, Armani probably, Hermione thought. Physically, they weren't much different, Hermione mused, returning the frank gaze. However, Catherine's shiny, straight long blonde hair and her icy green eyes made her look a bit like a delicate china doll. Hermione immediately felt like a large, clumsy adolescent with buck teeth and big hair under her cool, sophisticated gaze.  
  
"Hermione Granger?" Catherine said, attempting a small smile. "I remember that name. Weren't you the one who was friends with The Boy Who Lived? And - wait - you were the one who made the Polyjuice and -"  
  
"Turned myself into a cat, yes, that was me," Hermione grinned good- naturedly, laughing. When Catherine didn't join in the forced merriment, Hermione dropped her gaze to the packages on the coffee table. "Well, Severus will most likely tearing up your dresser drawers and Merlin knows what else for a bit longer, so why don't I help you put your groceries away?"  
  
"That's not necessary," Catherine said sharply. And with a quick wave of her wand and a muttered charm, the packages unwrapped themselves and were stowed away in the kitchen cupboards.  
  
"Handy spell," said Hermione, still attempting to be polite, but inwardly praying that Severus would find the bloody book soon.  
  
"Severus taught it to me," was the reply she received.  
  
The two women stared at each other for a solid minute before Catherine seemed to come to a decision and spoke: "I'll just find Severus and see if I can't assist him. I'd hate for you to get back to school late today."  
  
Hermione collapsed on the sofa as Catherine disappeared down the dark hallway into what she assumed was the bedroom. Catherine seemed very cold and detached, she thought. Of course, she's meeting her ex-boyfriends new lover, so that might have something to do with the fact that she was -- hell, Hermione, be honest - a bitch. Hermione, however, was perceptive enough to see that Catherine would have been a perfect match for Severus during the war and the rebuilding years. Cool, composed and probably calm with a mild temper - even if she seemed a bit pretentious. But, she mused, Severus is from an old wizarding family, so maybe they like the stuck-up type.  
  
Lost in her thoughts, she watched the clock over the mantel tick away nearly 15 minutes before she decided to see if she could hurry things along. She walked down the hallway and came to an abrupt halt as she entered what had been Catherine and Severus' bedroom.  
  
They were kissing.  
  
She shook her head and blinked, looking at the hardwood floor of the room. Raising her eyes once again, she took in the horrible tableau before her. Snape, book in one hand and the other hand clenching the top of a dresser, was propped against the wall. The pretty blonde had pressed her significant curves into his body and had her manicured hand buried in his hair. And they were sharing a deep and passionate kiss. Hermione's eyes grew wide as she watched the kiss grow even deeper as Snape gasped for air and simultaneously slid his tongue into Catherine's mouth. Catherine responded with a small moan.  
  
A soft gasp escaped Hermione. Snape's head jerked up in shock and he attempted to pull away from the woman who held him, dropping his book in the process. Catherine backed away and smiled at Hermione with lips swollen from Snape's attentions. Hermione's hand drifted to her own lips as a sob escaped her and she turned on her heel and dashed from the room.  
  
"Dammit," swore Snape, following her with long strides. "Hermione! Wait, please - Hermione!"  
  
Hermione left the apartment with a slam of the door.  
  
Snape was left standing in the lounge of his former home, face white with shock and gasping for breath. He turned haunted eyes to his former lover and stood speechless as she advanced on him, a sultry look in her eye and a hand beginning to unbutton her blouse. 


	6. Chapter five

CHAPTER FIVE  
  
Severus swore as he slammed shut yet another dresser drawer. Glancing up and around the room from his position on the bedroom floor, he was at a loss to explain where the hell his book was. Moments later, he heard the fall of feminine footsteps coming down the hallway and spun on his rear on the floor to greet Hermione with a grin. He'd been searching and had left her alone for far too long, apparently, and she had decided to hurry things along.  
  
As the figure of a woman entered the room, his grin quickly turned into a scowl, however. Scrambling up from his rather undignified position on the floor by the dresser, he leaned against it and calmly said one word.  
  
"Catherine."  
  
"Severus."  
  
They stood for several tense moments, examining each other and mentally assessing the situation and their past. Their last face-to-face meeting had entailed a lot of screaming, books flying across the room, a hex or two and a good deal of name calling.  
  
"No luck?" she finally said. He released a breath he didn't realize he had been holding.  
  
"No. I don't know what I did with the damn thing," he said, attempting a rueful grin. "Usually, I may not know where my quill or my keys are - but I always know exactly where every book I own is."  
  
"And what pages the bookmark is resting between, as well," she remarked, coolly. He simply nodded in agreement. She raised a delicate hand into the air and cried: "'Accio book!'"  
  
A dusty book flew out from underneath the bed - their old bed - and landed in her arms. She walked to Severus and handed it to him.  
  
"Thank you. I didn't think about trying that for some reason," he said, shrugging.  
  
"Little Muggle-born girlfriend make the powerful Severus Snape forget about magic?" she teased without warmth. "Why, Sev, there was I time that I thought you were the most powerful wizard I knew - other than Dumbledore. Losing your touch?"  
  
He bristled and tried to not give in to her obvious attempts at a fight.  
  
"Hermione has nothing to do with you and I, Catherine," he said, slowly. "You know that. Leave her out of it."  
  
"She's sitting in my living room, Severus. That's a little hard to do," she said. "I assumed you would be gone by the time I finished my movie and shopping."  
  
Severus couldn't help but grin a bit as he remembered the activities that had made them late for lunch and the rest of their day.  
  
"We got a little held up this morning," was all that he said.  
  
"I bet." Catherine took a step closer to Severus and gave him a cool and seductive look from head to toe, lingering on his groin. He shivered in response.  
  
She took another step. Backing unconsciously into the corner created by the dresser and the wall, he returned the cool glance of his former lover and mentally compared her to Hermione. Where Catherine was calm, Hermione was full of fire and energy. Where Catherine was cool, Hermione was demonstratively affectionate. Where Catherine had become jaded and somehow old because of the war, Hermione was still full of youthful enthusiasm, despite the horrors she has seen in her life. Where Catherine was sultry and a deliberate seductress in bed, Hermione was warm and playful and - he struggled to describe it - she was simply real.  
  
As Catherine advanced on him a bit more, he made one final mental comparison.  
  
Catherine didn't want to marry him and would rather terminate a pregnancy than carry his child, while Hermione was actually excited about the prospects of both. In fact, he had caught her that morning in the bedroom, staring out the window with a wistful smile on her face and a gentle hand covering her lower abdomen. No competition there, he mused. A small smile settled into the corner of his own mouth as he gazed at the Auror intently. She slid a white hand up his throat and it settled on his nape, buried in his long, black hair.  
  
"Catherine don't - Cat," he stammered. "I don't exactly know what you are doing, but it isn't appropriate. I'm with Hermione now, it's a serious relationship and I'm not about to leave her. Besides, if you remember correctly, you kicked me out."  
  
He didn't know what to do. Catherine, the ice queen whose serene composure had so calmed and intrigued him for so many years, looked like she was about to cry as she pressed her body against his lean one.  
  
"You can't have been with her for very long, Severus," she said, sniffing. "And you spent eight years with me."  
  
Crying women were not his specialty, he thought to himself. Another voice in the back of his head reminded him that Hermione would most likely soon be in the throes of pregnancy hormone induced crying jags, so he had better get used to it. The thought of Hermione quickly chased away his traitorous body's reaction to Catherine's breasts pressing against his chest.  
  
"Then at least kiss me goodbye, Sev," she whispered, leaning into him. "The last time I saw you was so terrible. The years we had were so good - leave me with one final good memory."  
  
Severus Snape was torn. Before Catherine, he was lucky if a woman glanced at him with anything less than revulsion. Then after a few months of working with Catherine, she had become the first woman to look past his greasy hair, self-hate and dark appearance. Now, the first woman he had ever let himself love was begging him to kiss her. But then, the woman he currently hoped to spend the rest of his life with was mere yards away, possibly carrying his child. The decision suddenly seemed ridiculously easy.  
  
He opened his mouth to tell her 'no' but she quickly swooped up to capture his open lips in a kiss. Jerking his head back, initially, Severus soon found himself wrapped in an embrace that was familiar and very comforting. He abruptly leaned into it and roughly began kissing Catherine back while his free hand reached to clench the top of the dresser. He didn't know how long they had been standing there kissing, but suddenly one of Catherine's hands had drifted to his groin and began stroking him. He gasped and instinctively dove in for a deeper kiss, caressing her tongue with his own as she began to softly moan.  
  
Then he heard it. Somewhere in his lust and memory fogged mind, he heard the heartbroken gasp of Hermione. He wrenched back from Catherine, using one hand to tug her hand from his erection and his arm to shove away from the wall. He pushed Catherine back and the silent room was filled with the noise of his beloved, previously lost potions text clattering to the hardwood floor, the spine breaking. He glanced from Hermione to Catherine and saw his former lover smiling coldly at his future. Capturing Hermione's eyes yet again, their gazes locked for a heartbreaking second before she clamped her hand over her mouth and ran from the room, sobbing.  
  
"Dammit," swore Severus, following her with long strides. "Hermione! Wait, please - Hermione!"  
  
Hermione left the apartment with a slam of the door.  
  
He was left standing in the lounge of his former home, face white with shock and gasping for breath. He turned his haunted eyes to his former lover and stood speechless as she advanced on him, a sultry look in her eye and a hand beginning to unbutton her blouse.  
  
"Severus," she hissed. "It's been a long time."  
  
"And it will be even longer, Cat," he snapped. "I'm leaving."  
  
He tried to brush past her to retrieve the book that started it all and that lay on the floor in their former bedroom. Catherine stopped him with a strength that always shocked him, due to her tiny frame and feminine curves.  
  
"No. Sev, we spent too much time together to let it all go to waste. Why do you think I kissed you today, when I knew your little Muggle girlfriend - the famously nosy Hermione Granger - would be certain to walk in on us?" she said. "She's just a fling, Severus. Come home."  
  
He glared down at her and attempted to compose his thoughts. Hexing the bitch was, unfortunately, out of the question.  
  
"This is no longer my home, Catherine," he said. "My home is with Hermione."  
  
"Doesn't look that way to me, Severus," she said, gesturing to the door. "You told me you loved her, but you wouldn't have been kissing me if -"  
  
"You did this on purpose, didn't you?" he accused, suddenly realizing exactly what had happened. "I'll take full blame for my stupidity, I was an idiot and I should have hexed you into the middle of next week the moment you kissed me. But, I told you when we spoke yesterday that I was involved with someone and that it was serious. You bloody KNEW how I felt about Hermione. I -- I think you planned this. Did you?"  
  
Catherine didn't answer. Instead she returned his accusing glance and coolly waited for him to continue.  
  
"Merlin! I'm an idiot. I even felt sorry for you. I don't know why I kissed you back. Maybe it WAS goodbye. I don't know. I just don't know."  
  
He suddenly seemed lost for words or thought and sat down on the sofa dejectedly.  
  
"She's just a child, Severus," Catherine said, softly. She sat next to him and began to gently rub his back. "It was just a fling."  
  
Severus suddenly stood and walked to the bedroom. He picked up his book and made his way to the front door. Stopping with his hand on the doorknob, he turned to look at Catherine. It was a look that few people ever saw from Severus Snape and lived to tell about it. It was a look of pure hatred.  
  
"It is NOT a fling. Hermione is NOT a child," he spat, heatedly. "I am going to go to her and beg her to forgive me. You are a cold, calculating bitch, Catherine. Did you know that?"  
  
"I've been told so, on many different occasions," she said calmly, holding his gaze.  
  
"Well, then here's something you apparently didn't know," he said, stealthily moving until their faces were just inches from each other. "Hermione and I are in love. In fact, we are trying to get pregnant, Catherine. Does that sound like a fling to you?"  
  
Catherine looked like she had been slapped and she took a few shocked steps back from Snape.  
  
"Now if you will excuse me, I need to go convince the woman who is most likely carrying my child to forgive me for being a total bastard," sneered Severus as he walked to the door. "And -- Catherine?"  
  
"Yes," she whispered, Auror confidence apparently gone.  
  
"I never fucking want to see you again."  
  
Severus left the apartment with a slam of the door.  
  
Catherine walked to the sofa and sat, one delicate and shaking hand rising to her chest where it began the work of rebuttoning her blouse. 


	7. Chapter six

CHAPTER SIX  
  
As it turned out, Hermione didn't need to cancel her next appointment of Hermione-duty with her boys. She was still single and, if possible, even more depressed than she had been over Geoff. True to his Gryffindor nature, Harry showed up on time with a large bouquet of flowers and studiously avoided all mentions of Hogwarts, potions or Snape. Not the easiest thing to do when Harry worked at Hogwarts, she worked as a manager in a potions lab and the entire wizarding world was still buzzing about Hermione and Severus' explosive romance. But, Harry made a good effort, for which Hermione was extremely grateful.  
  
It was nice to get out, she mused as they settled into their seats at the movie theatre. They had hit a pub for a pole of onion rings and greasy hamburgers - and copious amounts of beer for Harry and water for Hermione. Now they were settling down for a good movie - one of the summer blockbusters she had missed while typically buried in her work. Harry had seen it in June and loved it - it was full of fast cars, no romance, lots of action and explosions, he was now explaining to her around a mouthful of popcorn.  
  
"You know my favorite movies are ones where lots of shit blows up," grinned Hermione. Harry just rolled his eyes and recalled how many times she had forced him to watch her favorite film of all time, Independence Day. "Are you going to hog all of the popcorn, Harry?"  
  
Grinning back at his friend, he loosened his death grip on the giant tub of artery-clogging snacks. Hermione filled her hand with the fragrant kernels and tried gamely to become absorbed in the film.  
  
Instead, a movie reel of the past two week's events kept playing in her head. Severus laughing over dinner. Severus kissing her. Severus moving inside her and smiling smugly as she cried out beneath him. Severus looking stunned as she stood in the doorway wearing her school robes and a naughty grin. Severus smiling dazedly as they discussed marriage and having a baby.  
  
Severus kissing Catherine.  
  
Not to mention the pathetic scenes outside her apartment and office. The stoic professor that never let an ounce of emotion show made quite a spectacle of himself - pounding on her apartment door and begging her secretary to let him in. And then there were the letters:  
  
  
  
"I don't know what I was thinking, Hermione. She asked me for a goodbye kiss and I wanted to say no, suddenly we were kissing. I should have stopped it immediately. I don't know why I didn't. Other than the fact that I am an idiot. I am an utter bastard. You should hate me, but I am begging you to at least talk to me. Can you stand to be in the same room with me for just an hour, Hermione? I need to try to explain and apologize."  
  
  
  
The letters of explanation and remorse quickly turned to letters filled with rather pathetic begging:  
  
  
  
"Please, Hermione, forgive me. I promise I will never do anything to break your trust again. I will never even look at another woman. I will do anything you ask, if you will only forgive me, utter git that I am. Please. Please. I want nothing more than to be your husband."  
  
  
  
She never replied to his letters. She simply fed his exhausted looking owl and sent him back to his master. Then just today a letter arrived that cut her almost as deeply as his initial betrayal. He no longer sounded like her Severus. He sounded like Professor Snape.  
  
  
  
"Hermione,  
  
I realize by now that you are unable to find it in your heart to forgive me. I do not blame you. My behavior was unacceptable and vile and you have no reason to continue your questionable involvement with me.  
  
I will not abuse you further with my presence or my letters. I merely am writing to request that you inform me if we did, in fact, conceive a child. I am not asking to be involved with your life or your child. However, I have contacted my attorney and made arrangements to provide for you both financially, as is my responsibility.  
  
If you wish to contact my attorney directly with the news, you may owl him instead. His name is Peter Graber and he has an office in London.  
  
S. Snape"  
  
  
  
In the darkness of the theater, she mentally reread that final letter and allowed a single stray tear to slide down her cheek. Slowly, she let her hand drift to her stomach and then she silently wept.  
  
  
  
In the quiet of a potions lab, many miles away, Severus sat with his head resting on his folded arms. He heard a soft rustle of robes as Albus Dumbledore entered his domain and he pulled himself upright, not bothering to disguise the damp and salty trails on his cheeks.  
  
"Severus."  
  
"I know. I fucked up. Please let me wallow alone, Albus."  
  
"These things have a way of working themselves out," the old wizard said softly. "The rest of the staff is worried about you. We've broken into the bottles of wine that Minerva brought back from her holiday in France, come join us. After all, the little dunderheads arrive tomorrow and this is our last chance to get - how is it the kids put it? Loaded?"  
  
Severus grinned despite himself and nodded. Somehow, he found himself being led to the Great Hall, where the rest of the staff was relaxing over wine, cheese and soft music from an enchanted radio. Flitwick handed him a glass with kind eyes and a small smile.  
  
"Glad you could join us, Severus," he said. Severus only nodded and began filling a plate of cheese and fruit for himself. He sat next to Dumbledore and quietly drank and ate while under the intense scrutiny of his coworkers. Finally, he could take the sneaking glances or Minerva's open hostility no longer.  
  
"What?!" he spat. "Let's get it all out in the open. Are you all furious at me for shagging a former student? Is that it? Or is it because we broke up and the entire wizarding world has decided our short-lived affair is fuel for the gossip fire?"  
  
"I don't know what you did to Hermione, Severus," said Minerva, slightly tipsy and completely angry. "But, she wasn't this hurt over her fiancée. I can only assume that you were being just being your bastard self when you broke her heart."  
  
"Minerva -" began Albus, putting his hands in the air in an ineffective plea for calm.  
  
"I hate to tell you all this, but my personal life is my own. I don't owe any of you any explanations," spat Severus. "However, if it will stop the glares, the snide remarks and even the bloody sympathy, I will tell you."  
  
"I picked Hermione up at the bar of our favorite restaurant about two weeks ago," he began. "We got drunk, had dinner and went back to her apartment for a rather kinky one-night stand. It would appear that the taboo of student-teacher relationships turned her on as much as it did me."  
  
"Severus!" gasped Minerva, before Albus laid a gentle hand on her shoulder to quiet her. Severus watched the interaction before he nervously rose and began to pace.  
  
"We wound up spending the weekend together. By the end of the weekend, we both realized we were in love." He looked around, waiting for the jokes and smirks that should accompany that admission. They never came. "We also realized that we had neglected to use any birth control and that it was Hermione's fertile time in her cycle. We decided quickly that we didn't want to take any action to terminate a possible pregnancy, in fact, we began actively attempting to get pregnant."  
  
He stopped and glared at his Gryffindor rival.  
  
"Yes, Minerva, we both knew it was too soon. We knew we were moving too fast and we knew it was completely insane. It didn't matter. It still doesn't matter. In fact, after what I've done, none of it matters anymore," he said, angrily. "I needed to pick up a book I had left at my old apartment. I cleared it with Catherine and she agreed to leave for an afternoon. Catherine came back early and she caught us there. And after meeting Hermione, she apparently decided she wanted me back. She kissed me. The idiot that I am, I foolishly was drawn in and I kissed her back. Hermione saw us and left me. And rightly so."  
  
He stopped pacing and looked deflatedly at his coworkers.  
  
"So now you know it all. I am a git. I discovered the woman of my dreams and I blew it," he swallowed, refusing to cry in front of them. "I was handed a wife, home and family on a silver bloody platter and now it's gone. So, I would appreciate it if you would please let me get on with my life and my work."  
  
Severus turned and headed for the door, leaving his mostly-speechless friends stunned.  
  
"Severus," called Flitwick. "What if Hermione is pregnant?"  
  
He stopped but did not turn to face them. He couldn't.  
  
"Then she will do whatever she feels she needs to do," he said softly. "All I know is that I am out of the equation. Please, no more questions. Leave it alone. Leave me alone. I have been hurt enough for one year."  
  
  
  
  
  
"Hermione?" asked Harry, as he walked her home after the movie. "Do you want me to be there when you take the pregnancy test? If you do the incantation tonight, I'll tell Snape when I get back to Hogwarts. You don't have to deal with him at all that way."  
  
"No, Harry," she said. "I'm not ready to know. I can wait another week or so."  
  
"Hermione, he looks awful, talk to him."  
  
"No. I can't. Geoff cheated on me, Harry. I can't go through it again. I just can't."  
  
"He loves you, you know," said Harry. "When I went to the dungeons to talk to him yesterday, he had his grandmother's engagement and wedding rings sitting on his desk. He had gotten them from his vault just in case you changed your mind. Did you know that? Give him another chance -"  
  
Hermione turned tear-filled eyes to her best friend. She slowly shook her head.  
  
"No, I can't give him another chance, Harry," she said. "He'll just hurt me again. And I have been hurt enough for one year." 


	8. Chapter seven

CHAPTER SEVEN  
  
The wizarding world had followed their relationship, brief though it was, with the rabid interest generally reserved for the tabloids and the Muggle royal family. Their dinner at the Leaky Cauldron and the incident with Marcus Flint was in the Daily Prophet the next morning. Their shopping trip on Diagon Alley also made the gossip pages - and the fact that Hermione had stopped by a wedding robes boutique that day with Severus had surely made the speculation worse. The paper had even caught wind of how the brief romance had ended. Hermione didn't have to be a genius to guess who had leaked that information to the public. Catherine. Hermione shuddered as the memory of Severus and Catherine kissing once again came to mind.  
  
Of course there were also the scenes Severus had caused outside her apartment and at her office. Hermione supposed someone besides her Muggle neighbor could have heard his pounding on her apartment door and begging her to talk to him. And it was possible that her secretary or a coworker could have leaked the information to the press that Hogwarts' potions master had shown up at Hermione's lab with flowers and a sorrowful face on more than one occasion in the first week they were apart. Either way, each and every episode managed to find its way into the gossip column. Now, nearly two weeks after the end, things were finally beginning to settle down.  
  
It was disturbing to be able to thumb through a little over three week's worth of newspapers and see the most incredible and heartbreaking relationship of your life exposed for the world to see. Merlin, there were even letters to the editor about it. Some, such as Molly Weasley, hinted that the gossip had led to the downfall of the relationship and that the paper should butt out. Others implied that Hermione and Snape had been "going at it" for years, even while she was a student, and they called for Severus' termination from Hogwarts.  
  
At least, Hermione thought as she settled down with a novel and a cup of tea, they didn't know everything. Catherine either didn't know that she and Severus were trying to get pregnant or she decided against leaking that particular bit of information to the gossip column reporter.  
  
"Thank Merlin for small blessings," Hermione sighed. She opened the novel and breathed in the scent of new paper and fresh ink, smiling slightly as she heard the faint crack that indicated she was the first to break the spine of the brand-new book. She snorted a bit in laughter at herself, then as she realized what she was doing.  
  
"Only I would make a sensual experience out of opening a book," she murmured, taking a sip of tea. "Well, Severus might, too -"  
  
Hermione set her teacup down with a thump and pushed "Professor Snape" firmly out of her mind. It was over. It had been over for nearly two weeks. She hadn't even heard from him for a week, not since that last, icy cold missive. It was Saturday, she had the day off and a stack of brand new books and, by Merlin, she wasn't going to spend her day mooning over him. He was probably already moving his things back into Catherine's apartment by now anyway, she sadly mused. Hermione expected to see some information about their reconciliation in the Daily Prophet within the next week or two.  
  
"And then I will be painted as the 'other woman' and I'll never date again," she sighed to the empty bedroom. She abruptly stood and walked to the full-length mirror behind her door. Gazing at her reflection, she took in her curly brown hair, petite build and average figure with disdain. Catherine most assuredly had silk pajamas to lounge around in on a Saturday morning, she thought, plucking at her faded Oxford sweatshirt and looking at her ragged, cut off sweatpants. She next fixed her eyes on her flat stomach and sighed once again.  
  
"No time like the present," she said out loud. She purposefully turned and strode to the bathroom, chuckling. "Gods, if I had known Severus Snape would make me talk to myself, I never would have touched him."  
  
She shook her head and reached into a grocery sack, pulling out a Muggle pregnancy test. She quickly read the directions, followed them and conjured an egg timer to count down the two minutes it would take for the result to appear.  
  
  
  
At Hogwarts, Severus Snape wasn't having a much better morning. Papers from the little idiots he was forced to teach sat untouched on his desk as he morosely gazed at the worn green velvet box perched on top of them. The box contained an engagement ring of sapphires and diamonds and a simple pair of wedding bands wrought from platinum. His grandfather had given them to him after Grammy had passed away, and he had promised to present them to his bride someday. Catherine would have been insulted by an old ring, so he had purchased her a new, large canary diamond - that she now wore as a necklace. But, Hermione would have been enchanted by the history of these rings and worn them with pride --  
  
"Not bloody likely," muttered Severus, under his breath. He stood and began walking the floor, talking to himself. After a few moments of muttered frustration and pacing, he looked up to see Harry Potter leaning against the doorframe and grinning at him.  
  
"Hermione has that effect on people," he said, walking in and sitting on top of one of the student desks.  
  
"What, praytell, Mr. Potter?" snapped Snape.  
  
"She makes people talk to themselves," Harry smiled. "I've been doing it since I was 11-years-old. I can only assume that it is worse when you are in love with her."  
  
Severus gave the young Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher an exasperated look and walked over to sit on a desk across from him.  
  
"What do I do, Harry?" he asked, swallowing his pride. "I love her."  
  
"I know you do. I also know that she loves you. But, you fucked up, Snape."  
  
"I know, I know," he sighed. "I've explained it to her. It sounded like a feeble excuse even to me, but it was the truth. It just happened, I don't know why. Maybe on some level I needed to make sure that I was doing the right thing with Hermione. Who knows? I sure don't."  
  
"If you were anyone else, I'd say bullocks to you and you could go hang," said Harry, sternly. "But, as much as I hate to admit it, I think you are the perfect match for her. Ron and I actually thought so as far back as our school days."  
  
Severus gave Harry a hard look of askance.  
  
"Harry, I don't know what you think, but, we honestly never touched each other while she was in school," he said earnestly. "I'll admit that I looked and even thought about it more than once her seventh year, but I never would have touched her."  
  
"I didn't mean that," said Harry, brushing his unruly hair from his eyes.  
  
"You both are obsessed with potions, you're both compulsive about work and research, you both are voracious readers and aside from that, you are both complex and brilliant people. Ron and I used to joke that we needed to find out if you had a son our age so we could fix him and Hermione up. Then we found out that Hermione had a crush on you - has she told you about her thing about you and your desk?" Harry paused and pointed to Snape's desk at the head of the room. Snape nodded. "Well, let's just say I'm not surprised the two of you finally found your way to each other."  
  
"And it lasted less than a week, yet somehow became the most important relationship of my life," said Severus bitterly. They sat in silence for a full minute, both thinking before Snape broke the silence. "Sadly, we'll never be able to try the - um, desk thing."  
  
Harry chuckled at his former professor's attempt at humor. He stood and placed a hand on one of Severus' drooping shoulders.  
  
"Give her some time, then try again," he said. "She needs to cool off. Why don't you wait until Christmas and then-"  
  
"What? Show up on her doorstep with a box full of maternity clothes and a squeaky toy or two? Or should I stick with flowers?" Severus asked angrily, brushing off Harry's hand.  
  
"I think that depends on whether or not she's -" began Harry before being interrupted.  
  
"She's supposed to owl me when she finds out, but I haven't heard from her yet. Between losing her and the not knowing, I think I'm going insane," he said, dropping his head into his hands. "Voldemort couldn't do it over two decades, but Hermione has accomplished it in the space of less than a month."  
  
Harry considered the man in front of him for a long moment. Hermione was being a fool, he decided. Everyone makes mistakes and she was just going to have to forgive the old bat for this one. Harry took a deep breath and promised to go talk to Hermione that afternoon.  
  
"I'll either find out for you, or convince her to Floo or owl you," he said.  
  
"Thank you," Severus said, rising and walking to his desk to pick up the ring box for the thousandth time that week. "And, Harry?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Please tell her that I am sorry."  
  
"I will."  
  
Minutes later Harry had apparated to Hermione's door. A tear-stained face answered his knock and he silently entered and pulled her into a hug. Once she had cried herself out, he pulled away and tipped her chin up to look into her eyes.  
  
"I just finished talking to Snape, Hermione," he said, softly. "You have to talk to him."  
  
She shook her head.  
  
"Hermione, I usually don't meddle, but I believe he made a mistake. I also believe you should forgive him. You are passing up what could be a very happy relationship - a very happy marriage," Harry said. She shook her head again. "Then at least give the poor man some closure if you can't forgive him. Floo him right now and hear him out, tell him off and clear the air. And you have to let him know if you're pregnant, love. It's killing him. He has a right to know, it would be his baby too, after all."  
  
She walked away from him into her bathroom. He followed, unwilling to let it drop.  
  
"Hermione?"  
  
She refused to look at him or answer. She simply picked up a piece of white plastic from her countertop and silently handed it to him. Harry looked at it and then at the directions, to make sure he was reading it right. Slowly, he sat the test down and pulled Hermione into another hug.  
  
"Hermione, you have to talk to Snape."  
  
She just looked at him, tearfully. Harry made up his mind and walked to her fireplace and used his wand to light it. Grabbing a handful of Floo powder, he tossed some in and called, "Severus Snape." Moments later, Snape's anxious face was floating in Hermione's fireplace.  
  
"Harry. Hermione." He said carefully, masking his emotions.  
  
Harry took hold of one of Hermione's overstuffed chairs and scooted it in front of the fire as the distraught pair watched.  
  
"Sit," he said to Hermione.  
  
"Grovel," he said to Severus.  
  
And with those pronouncements made, he apparated away. The two former lovers regarded each other warily through the eerie green flames. Severus thought that Hermione appeared to have been crying. He took a deep breath and decided to initiate the conversation.  
  
"How are you?"  
  
"As well as can be expected, Professor."  
  
"Hermione, I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am. What a bastard I am. Can you find it in your heart to forgive me?"  
  
"Perhaps."  
  
"Thank Merlin!" he said, surprised but suddenly brightening. "Hermione, I swear that I-"  
  
"But I can never forget, Professor." Hermione said in an emotionless voice. She raised her gaze from Severus' floating head to rest on her mantel. Snape sighed and finally accepted defeat. It was over.  
  
"Hermione?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"I need to know if you are pregnant."  
  
"No," she said, tears once again beginning to stream down her face. "It takes some couples years to get pregnant; I don't know why I was so sure we would conceive so quickly."  
  
"Did you still want to be, love? Despite everything?" he said, softly.  
  
"Yes, I did."  
  
Severus and Hermione sat quietly for a moment, the fire crackling between them. Finally, he was once again the one to break the silence.  
  
"Hermione, I need to ask you something."  
  
She just shrugged in answer. He supposed that meant he could ask. He did anyway.  
  
"Did you just want to be pregnant or did you want to be pregnant with my child?"  
  
This time, the silence stretched for an eternity as Hermione sat crying and Severus' gentle gaze watched her. After nearly a full five minutes, Hermione finally turned her watery eyes to the fireplace and his face dancing in the flames.  
  
"Yours. I wanted to be carrying your child, Severus."  
  
"Tell me what to do, Hermione," Severus begged. "I was the idiot, I hurt you. Tell me what to do."  
  
"I want you to leave me alone. I never want to see you again."  
  
He looked like she had reached through the Floo and slapped him. She only stared at him for a moment before standing and flicking her wand to terminate the connection.  
  
Even though it was barely noon, she walked into her bedroom and crawled back into bed. She hoped to lose herself in her novel and prayed that soon sleep would give her a few hours of peace.  
  
And even though it was barely noon, he turned from his fireplace and walked to his liquor cabinet and grabbed a bottle of whiskey. He hoped that the whiskey would help him forget and prayed that it would make him pass out soon to give him a few hours of unconscious peace. 


	9. Chapter eight

CHAPTER EIGHT  
  
Halloween found Professor Snape beginning to heal from what Dumbledore was calling his "romantic year from hell." Half of Severus wanted to hex the old wizard into the middle of the next century whenever his eyes would twinkle and he would attempt to tease the potions master out of his depression and melancholy. The other half was immensely grateful for the gentle jibes and lightheartedness - after all, his colleagues reminded him, if he and Hermione had wanted to keep things secret they never would have ventured out publicly in the wizarding world. So he supposed he had asked for the sympathy and teasing now that it was over.  
  
Amazingly enough, it was getting easier as the days went by. Another scene with Catherine had been dealt with and survived. The snickers from the students and the prank love letters and flying enchanted Cupids were dealt with easily - house points and a few detentions with Filch always seemed to do the trick. Severus was still uncomfortable with his sudden status as a romantic figure with the female students, however. Even after he had become a hero in the war the adoration wasn't this bad, he mused as he prepared for the Halloween feast. Perhaps he should forget to bathe for a few days, as he used to when he was under so much pressure and working for the Ministry, he thought, chuckling to himself and buttoning up his favorite frock coat. 'Or perhaps, you should follow Sinistra's half-joking advice and find a willing seventh year Slytherin girl to take your mind off of Hermione for the rest of the year,' a traitorous voice in the back of his head said.  
  
Severus stared at himself in the mirror and shook his head. No, he was a lot of things but that type of man wasn't one of them. Besides, even though just getting through the days was becoming easier, it didn't mean he felt anything less for Hermione. It would still seem like a betrayal, somehow. He hadn't seen or heard from her since their Floo conversation, more than a month before. He had been tempted to write her more than once, but had decided against it every time. And a meeting regarding new potions for blood illnesses at the corporation Hermione worked at had been successfully avoided - unfortunately, an upcoming meeting would not be so easy to slip out of. He was still trying to figure out why Hermione hadn't pulled him from the brainstorming committee she had formed for her project. She had asked him to participate during their brief affair, and he had been shocked to receive a reminder owl before the first meeting in September. Surely she didn't want him there. Or did she? Perhaps -  
  
A knock at the door interrupted his thoughts and for one silly moment, he thought perhaps it was Hermione. Laughing at himself as he crossed the stone floor of his chambers to the door, he made a mental note to stop fooling himself on a regular basis.  
  
"Ah, Harry," he said, upon opening the door. "What can I do for you?"  
  
"Nothing, really," said Harry. "I just thought maybe we could go to the feast together."  
  
Severus shot him a questioning glance.  
  
"Let's see, we're both single. Both fairly miserable with our love lives. Despite that, we both seem to be these romantic figures - which is ridiculous. I know I haven't gotten laid in months. Neither of us have dates for this huge celebration Dumbledore has planned. I hate going places alone -"  
  
"Mr. Potter, I will admit that we have become close over the past few weeks and I do not deny that I appreciate the help and friendship you have offered me since the end of my relationship with Hermione," said Severus, with a hint of a sneer. "But, I swear that if you have come down here to confess your true feelings for me and 'ask me to the dance' so to speak, I may just end it all right now with the nearest poison. I do believe that I have had enough bad luck in my love life, I don't need to be propositioned by the bloody Boy Who Lived."  
  
"Don't want to try 'beating for the other team' as they say, Severus?" said Harry, grinning and flopping down on the older man's sofa.  
  
"Merlin, no. I've spent the better part of the last decade trying to figure women out, I don't plan to start back at zero," joked Severus, turning back to the mirror over his fireplace and adjusting his neckcloth. "Besides, I'm a breast man."  
  
"Well, you're safe with me, big boy," said Harry, earning a glare from Severus. "I don't exactly play for that team myself. I just don't happen to have good luck with women. I also just didn't relish the thought of walking into a room full of alumni, students and colleagues alone. But, I guess I'll survive. Maybe we can terrorize some students after the feast together instead of having that date?"  
  
"Perhaps," chuckled Severus.  
  
"I am betting that between the two of us, we know every hiding place in this school," said Harry. "Did I ever show you the Maurader's Map, Snape?"  
  
Severus' face suddenly lit up with curiosity. He gestured to the door of his chambers and he and Harry headed off to the feast, deep in conversation.  
  
  
  
November is colder than normal this year, mused Hermione as she prepared to apparate from Diagon Alley to her apartment one Saturday afternoon, mid- month. She had spent the morning looking for - well, she just didn't know what. She just knew that she had to get out of the house for a few hours before The Meeting. Clutching her package of wizarding pastries and two shrunken jugs of pumpkin juice, she apparated into her living room.  
  
The swish of her wand sent the packages flying into the kitchen. Soon, she had primped a bit and changed into her favorite jeans and a snug-fitting, cream-colored sweater. A few minutes in the small kitchen had the pastries on serving platters and a good portion of popcorn in a large bowl. She quickly set out the jugs of juice and some glasses and was finished. She glanced at the clock. She had plenty of time to pace.  
  
And pace she did while holding a very interesting conversation with herself about the state of her sanity. Or lack thereof. During one of her and Severus' lazy mornings in bed, she had brought up her work and they had come upon the idea of forming a braintrust, of sorts. She had invited wizards from around the world to come once a month and chat about leukemia and other blood-illnesses. And even though she and Severus had already stopped seeing each other, she couldn't in good conscience leave him out. He was brilliant after all. Even though he was also the bastard that was haunting her dreams and filling her with both anger and regret.  
  
There was a sharp knock at the door - early, she noted, looking at the clock. She didn't have to open the door to know who it was. Severus had skipped the September meeting, but she assumed he would be there today. And it would be typical Snape for him to show up early and get the pleasantries out of the way, she mused crossing to the door. She took a deep breath and opened it.  
  
And there he stood. Muggle jeans and a black turtleneck sweater with a black leather pea coat over all. 'Damn, does he have to look good,' she thought. They stood looking at each other uncomfortably for several moments before Severus decided to break the ice.  
  
"May I come in, or have you decided that it is not a good idea for me to be here?" he said, softly.  
  
"Come in, come in," she said. "I'm sorry I - I was just startled for a moment. It's - it's nice to see you, Severus. Coats can go in the bedroom, if you like."  
  
She stepped aside and gestured him into the room. Her eyes were so easy for him to read - and he could see she was still angry and hurt. He sighed in frustration. Nervously, she went to the coffee table and poured him a glass of pumpkin juice. Severus smirked a bit at her discomfort and went to lay his coat on her bed. He took a moment to look around; it looked the same, except he suspected that the stack of books on her nightstand had grown. Gently, he ran his hand over the soft, cotton comforter - lost for a moment in his memories. Suddenly, she was behind him in the doorway.  
  
"I wasn't sure you would come," she said, softly.  
  
"I wasn't sure you wanted me here," he replied. He picked up a small throw pillow and traced its toile pattern with a shaking finger and refused to look at her. "That's why I came early, so if we were going to have a row, we got it over with. Are we going to have a row, Hermione?"  
  
"No," she said simply. She walked to stand beside him at her bed. She hoped he didn't notice that she was enjoying his scent - expensive and subtle Muggle cologne, the potion ingredients he worked with and the underlying scent that was just Severus.  
  
"That's good. I'm not sure I'm up to it. Just being here is bad enough, to tell you the truth," he said, honestly. "The last time I was in this room we were lovers and I thought I would be married with a child on the way in a years time."  
  
He sighed and looked at her intently. "You know, my niece owled me last week to tell me she's expecting her first baby in the spring? I'd be lying if I said I wasn't more jealous of her than I am happy. But, perhaps I am destined to play the doting uncle instead of father? And perhaps I am rambling and I should quit while I'm ahead."  
  
They shared a small, tense laugh.  
  
"I miss you, Hermione."  
  
"We need your mind on this committee," she said, not knowing what else to say.  
  
"Thank you. I'll try to contain my bastard tendencies and instead contribute something," he said, grinning slightly and looking up at her through his lashes. To his surprise, she laughed.  
  
"And I'll try not to be a hysterical female that would still be amused by your castration," she said. He gave her a sharp glance. "No, I don't mean that, Severus. I'm sorry. You are forgiven, you know. It's just -"  
  
"It's just that after catching your fiancée in bed with another woman, I couldn't have picked a quicker and more effective way of ending the relationship, I know," sighed Severus. "I can't be trusted."  
  
An awkward pause followed in which Snape continued to closely examine the pattern on the pillow and Hermione closely examined his sad eyes. It was interrupted by a knock at her door.  
  
She turned to leave the room and answer it, but Severus moved with his usual catlike grace. Grabbing her arm and pulling her back hard against his chest, he growled "I still love you, Hermione." Before she could gather her shocked thoughts together enough to formulate a reply, he had slid his arms around her waist and crushed her roughly to him - capturing her mouth in a desperate and hungry kiss. Her arms snaked around his neck and she returned it passionately, her tongue dipping into his mouth to duel madly with his.  
  
The knock sounded once again and they broke apart hastily. Hermione was breathing heavily and looked as though she were on the verge of tears. Severus' dark eyes were glittering with emotion, although his face had returned to its usual impassivity. One tear began a slow trek down Hermione's cheek.  
  
"I'll get the door," he said gently. "You take a moment."  
  
She nodded and watched him hurry to her front door. Damn him, she thought. She wiped her cheek to dry it and took a deep breath before following the wizard into the living room. This was going to be a long afternoon, she groused.  
  
Surprisingly, the meeting went well, mused Severus later as it drew to a close. Each brain in Hermione's braintrust specialized in different areas of potions and each brain was eating out of her hand. The group of mostly elderly men were all wrapped around her little finger and she was using that fact to assign the distinguished gentlemen assignments for the next month. He chuckled to himself as he gathered up the dishes and carried them to the kitchen sink. He leaned against the counter for a moment and watched some of his discipline's greatest minds follow the directions of a twenty- something girl with pride -- she was the most amazing woman he had ever met. He only hoped that the kiss they had shared meant something to her. She had certainly responded as if it had. He caught her eye and grinned mischievously at her, causing her to nervously blink back at him. 'Maybe I should have waited to kiss her until after the meeting,' he mused, 'if we hadn't been interrupted who knows what could have happened.'  
  
Hermione was walking the last of the potions masters to the door and he lifted his hand in a brief goodbye to his colleague. Hermione closed the door and went to gather the juice glasses and napkins from her coffee table. Silently, they took care of magically cleaning the dishes and began putting them away together. Soon, the chore was complete and her kitchen was again spotless.  
  
"Well, thank you for helping me clean up, Severus," she said. "You didn't have to."  
  
"I was hoping we could talk," he ventured.  
  
"I don't know," she said, backing out of the kitchen. "I'm just getting over you. I don't think this is a good idea. I need to get on with my life, Severus. I just don't know about this --"  
  
"This?" he said, silkily, advancing on her. "You mean this?"  
  
He slid his arm around her waist once again and softly brushed her lips with his. She whimpered and closed her eyes. He then began to drift over her face and hair, dropping gentle kisses in his wake.  
  
"Please, Hermione, I can tell you still have feelings for me," he whispered.  
  
She took a deep breath and stepped away from him. The anger he had seen hints of when he arrived was completely gone from her eyes. Pain and love were the only things left.  
  
"I do, but I need some time to think about this," she said pleadingly. "I - I have trust issues, Severus."  
  
"I think I noticed that," he joked. She granted him a small smile before he placed a gentle hand on her chin and forced her eyes to meet his. "I promise that nothing like that will ever happen again. I was foolish and I think a little scared by how fast we were moving, Hermione. But, when I become your husband, I will mean it when I vow to you my faithfulness."  
  
"When you become my husband," she repeated dazedly. "Severus, why don't you let me get past letting you back into my life first - before you start talking marriage."  
  
He smiled and nodded.  
  
"Understood."  
  
Severus dropped a small, gentle kiss on her lips before stepping away from her and retrieving his coat from the bedroom. Moments later he emerged and walked to her door. She met him there and smiled nervously.  
  
"It was good to see you," she said. "And I'll think about what you had to - say."  
  
"Do that."  
  
"Goodbye, Severus."  
  
"Goodbye, my love."  
  
Another brief brush of a kiss on her lips, and he was out the door. She closed it and leaned against it for a few moments with a soft smile on her face. He still loved her. She shook her head in amazement and decided to think about it tomorrow. It was dinnertime and she needed to meet Harry and Ron in 10 minutes.  
  
She scurried into the bathroom to touch up her makeup and hair. She then ran into the bedroom to find a bit dressier outfit to change into. She slipped on a dress and cardigan then turned to grab her watch from the nightstand.  
  
And stopped dead in her tracks. There, next to her watch was a single red rose and a small worn, green velvet jewelry box. She picked it up with a shaking hand and opened it. Three rings were nestled in the box -- an engagement ring of sapphires and diamonds and a pair of wedding bands wrought from platinum. She pulled the engagement ring from its velvet bed and slipped it on her finger. The band reduced to fit her perfectly.  
  
She blinked and couldn't decide whether to cry to giggle like a schoolgirl. A glance at the clock told her it was past time to leave, so she gathered up her things and prepared to apparate. A last glance at her hand and the ring produced a small smile. She impulsively decided to wear the ring - just while she was making up her mind. Not that she was taking him back yet, it was just a tool in her decision making process.  
  
She laughed at her own excuse. So did Harry and Ron when the trio finally met up for beer and pub food. They both teased her mercilessly for the entire evening about the very large and expensive looking ring on her finger. Ron didn't buy her excuses anymore than Harry did. "It's helping me think," suddenly became an excuse to order another beer or plate of chips. Hermione just smiled and rolled her eyes - repeatedly. Later, as they were saying their goodbyes, Harry pulled Hermione aside for a quick word.  
  
"Come back with me to Hogwarts," he said, eyes sparkling. "Surprise Severus. Show up at his door wearing nothing but that ring."  
  
She sighed for the millionth time that day.  
  
"I can't," she finally said. "I love him, Harry. And I know at this point that it is my problem. I know he wouldn't do anything to hurt me. I just need more time, I guess."  
  
"And I have a feeling that he'll wait as long as you need him to," said Harry, smiling.  
  
Twenty minutes later, with a giant grin plastered on his face, Harry Potter was pounding on his former professor's door. Several minutes and muffled curses later, a disheveled Severus Snape in pajama pants and slippers opened the door.  
  
"Ugh, Snape, put some clothes on man, you're killing me," said Harry as he waltzed into the older wizard's chambers.  
  
"No, no, Harry, of course you didn't wake me. It's only two in the morning. And why don't you come on in and make yourself at home?" drawled Severus. "A student had better be dead or bleeding, Potter, or I may have to kill you when I finally wake up."  
  
Harry just stood grinning like he didn't quite have a tight grip on his sanity.  
  
"What?" Severus asked, irritably.  
  
"I just got back from seeing Hermione," he gloated.  
  
"And?" The black eyes were suddenly alert and awake. "What did she say?"  
  
"That she loves you but she needs some more time," Harry said.  
  
"You woke me up for that? She told me as much earlier today," Severus groaned.  
  
"Oh, then, I'm sorry to have disturbed you, Professor," said Harry, walking to the still-open door. He put a hand on the doorknob and walked out the door before peeking his head back in for a final parting shot.  
  
"By the way, you wouldn't be interested in knowing that she was wearing your engagement ring, would you?" teased Harry, enjoying the way Snape's head whipped around in shock. "She said it was helping her think."  
  
With that, Harry shut the door with a firm click. Severus sat down on the couch heavily, an idiotic grin plastered on his face.  
  
"Well, Mrs. Snape, you can have as much time as you need," he said softly. "I can wait."  
  
He just hoped she didn't make him wait for very long. 


	10. Chapter nine

CHAPTER NINE

The rest of November passed quickly for the pair. Hermione was engrossed in a clinical trial and Severus decided to go house-hunting. Owls slowly began flying between them as they discussed their futures.

_Dearest Hermione,_

_I missed you today as I taught my class of second year Gryffindors and Slytherins. This particular year can claim two "Neville Longbottoms" – one in each house. Unfortunately, I do not have two "Hermione Grangers" to help rescue the young men. I therefore had simultaneous exploding cauldrons today in my classroom. I do hope you make up your mind soon, my love, otherwise I may not survive to celebrate our vows._

_Severus,_

_I do believe that if you would quit hovering over students like a rabid overgrown bat, that they might relax enough to successfully complete a potion occasionally. Of course, I could be wrong, after all – I am just a Gryffindor._

_Dearest Hermione,_

_I had the most unnerving experience today. My niece decided that I should take her shopping. She seemed to think that prowling Diagon Alley and Muggle London in search of maternity clothes and underthings was just the thing to cheer me up. Although I did rather enjoy her horror when confronted with the enormous knickers she found, I was a bit sad during the jaunt. I would much rather make the same shopping trip with you. We may have to discuss the knickers issue however, as I'm certain we can find some alternative. At least, I hope so._

_Severus,_

_I must confess that I sometimes think about you when I'm shopping, too. Sometimes, it's the sight of bat wings in the window of the potions shop. Sometimes, it's when I run across a rope of garlic while I'm shopping for groceries. And sometimes it's when I see frightened small children cowering in the aisles of a local shop. It all makes me think of you. And sometimes, I pass a man in black robes carrying his son or daughter in his arms. And I think of you. And don't think you're going to get out of seeing me in maternity knickers, if we go ahead with this crazy relationship and marriage._

_Dearest Hermione,_

_I would love to see you in giant maternity knickers. Shall I pick some up for you my next trip to Muggle London? I'm sure they'd look just lovely on you._

_Severus,_

_Sod off, Snape. Be careful what you wish for. Maternity knickers, my arse. I'll bloody well go without. _

_Dearest Hermione,_

_Now THAT I can't wait to see.__ On to more intellectual topics, not that I don't love discussing your underthings, but I wondered what you thought about the latest research into ---_

Severus oscillated between near-giddiness that startled and frightened his coworkers and a nasty, foul depression that startled and frightened his students. But, hope is an amazing thing. It allowed him to continue living and continue looking to the future. A future he was planning to spend with Hermione. The people he dealt with on a daily basis were completely confused by his behavior. Even the headmaster was admittedly frustrated at his inability to figure out the puzzle that was Snape's love life. The first week of December saw the potions master bent over a stack of parchments in the staff room, companionably sharing a pot of tea with Harry Potter, when Albus Dumbledore swept into the room.  
  


"Severus. Harry," he said. The greeting was returned by the two men, who quickly went back to their grading.  
  


"Severus."   
  


Snape looked up and focused his attention on his boss, a question written in his eyes.   
  


"I give up, Severus. For once, I have no idea what is happening at Hogwarts and it is driving me mad," sighed Albus. "Put a poor old man out of his misery and tell him what is going on with Hermione."   
  


Severus shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine, Albus."   
  


"I hear that she is wearing your ring," Albus said.   
  


"That she is."   
  


"And --?"  
  


"And nothing. I left her the rings in mid-November and she promised to think about 'us.' Harry told me that she is wearing the ring as a touchstone of sorts while she makes up her mind."   
 

"She said it helps her think, Headmaster," grinned Harry. "I think she is just scared to be engaged again. The last engagement didn't end very well."   
  


"So I'm waiting," said Severus. "I waited more than a decade to see if Catherine came around, so I think I can give Hermione a few more months. Besides, if I have my way she won't have to worry about the 'engaged' part for long. I think that between my mother, her mother and the Hogwarts staff, we could pull a wedding together in a week or two. Don't you, Potter?"   
  


Harry nodded and grinned. "Toss in Molly Weasley and you could do it in 48 hours or less."   
  


"But you –" the old wizard stopped, eyes narrowed in confusion. "Severus. I just got off the Floo with Gringotts, confirming that you are indeed gainfully employed by me. They seemed to be under the impression that you were buying a house in Hogsmeade."   
  


Severus simply looked at his boss, a small quirk of a grin on his lips.   
  


"A house for you and your future wife."   
  


"They said that, did they?" Severus replied, leaning back in his chair and sipping at his cup of now-cool tea. "Albus, relax. There is no news. I am simply – hopeful."   
  


Hermione continued to wear Severus' ring as Christmas drew closer. Each morning, she would get ready for work and debate whether or not to take it off her finger. Every morning, she arrived at the office with its comforting coolness on her hand. Her staff assumed that she had resolved everything with Snape and that they were engaged. She dodged several questions over the past few weeks, simply stating that she didn't think it was appropriate for her to bring her love life to work. No matter, the gossip columnist for the Daily Prophet had caught scent of the story and had already published a tidbit claiming that they were back together.   
  


And then today came the news that Snape had purchased a home in Hogsmeade. It was a rather large house, too, Hermione mused as she skimmed the daily gossip. Plenty of bedrooms for children with a large lawn for them to run. She wondered why his latest owl hadn't mentioned it. Suddenly, she threw down her paper and closed her office door. Pacing, she tried to decide if it was annoying that Severus was being quite so presumptuous or if it was endearing. Glancing down at the ring she currently wore, she decided that they were both being rather presumptuous.   
  


And she was slowly realizing that was a good thing. From their first night together there had been an odd feeling of presumption in their relationship. They presumed that there would be a second night, then a long-term relationship, then a baby, then a wedding.   
  


Then Hermione presumed that he would cheat on her. But, she didn't anymore. So why was it so difficult to simply presume the best? A quick look at the clock on the wall told her it was time to head for home. She had Hermione-duties with Harry tonight. Perhaps she could spend some time talking to him about Severus.   
  


Back at Hogwarts, a nervous middle-aged wizard paced his chambers. He was being watched by an amused young man with green eyes and rather dirty glasses. He was nervous to the point of being twitchy. And being stared at was not helping.   
  


"Harry, if you don't have anything to say, please go away," Snape said, attempting a sneer. "Gods, what time is it?"   
  


"5:30."   
  


"And what time are you supposed to meet Hermione?"   
  


"6:00. Calm down, you have half an hour before you apparate. And I still think you should be a few minutes late. Let her get there, get a table and settle in. Let her wait for you a bit. You've earned it, after all. She's made you wait since September," said Harry.   
  


"I don't know if I can do this."   
  


"The great git, Professor Snape? Afriad? Good Merlin, where is my diary, I need to write this down."   
  


Snape stopped in his frantic pacing to turn and glare at his co-worker.   
  


"If I could get away with hexing you, I would. You know that don't you, Potter?" he asked, sounding more pathetic than evil. Harry just laughed.   
  


"I know. But then, I'd have to kill you and you wouldn't be seeing Hermione tonight. Did you change the sheets on your bed, by the way? You know she's a clean freak," Harry said with a rather ornery grin.   
  


"Potter! I appreciate your help with Hermione. I appreciate your setting up this date tonight so that I could surprise her. I do not appreciate your prying into our sex life, however."   
  


A sharp glance from the green-eyed man made Severus roll his eyes in exasperation.   
  


"Yes, yes, I changed the bloody sheets!" he said, before resuming his pacing. Suddenly, he looked up and Harry was standing in front of him, holding a rose and set of keys. Severus took them both and then took a deep breath.   
  


Harry looked at the older wizard sympathetically for a moment before impulsively hugging him. To his surprise, Snape hugged him back.   
  


"Thank you, Harry," he said softly. "You will be my best man, won't you? If she says yes?"   
  


"She'll say yes," Harry said, releasing the nervous man. "And I would be honored to stand up with you at your wedding."   
  


With a nervous nod, Snape turned to the fireplace and threw in a handful of Floo powder. Albus' face suddenly appeared, and he quickly took in Severus' appearance. Muggle suit, hair in a ponytail, rose in hand. It was time.   
  


"I'm dropping the wards ---now!" said Albus. Without another word, Severus apparated away.   
  


"Good luck, my son," Albus whispered. He and Harry locked gazes through the green haze and they both took a deep breath. Now, all they had to do was wait.   
  


Severus apparated into an alley not far from Hermione's favorite restaurant. He quickly entered the building and scanned the dining room for her. She was sitting near the back at a table for two, the bottle of champagne he had called ahead for chilling in a bucket beside her. He watched her as she sipped some from her glass and he took the sight of her in. Black wrap dress, heels, red lips, manicured hands and his ring flashing in the light. Beautiful, he thought.   
  


Taking another deep breath, he walked up behind her, smelling her sophisticated Muggle perfume. He reached around her and placed the rose on her plate, leaning down to whisper into her ear:   
  


"I don't think I can wait any longer to have you as my wife and the mother of my children. Please say you will marry me, Miss Granger?"   
  


Shocked, she spun in her chair and saw him standing behind her. Black suit that showed off his lean form, grey turtleneck that only served to highlight his silver temples and long black hair, and a frightened look in his flashing black eyes. He looked like a man that had just laid everything he had on the line and would be irreparably crushed if things didn't go his way. He looked beautiful, she thought.   
  


Their eyes locked for a long moment before Severus managed to choke out just one more word.   
  


"Please."


	11. Chapter ten

"Please."  
  
It was that word, softly spoken, that finally broke down the final barrier to Hermione's heart. Cliché, yes, but as she sat staring at the man she loved, Hermione thought she could damn near hear it crashing to the floor. A flood, no a damned tidal wave of emotions hit her: a fading fury, love, lust, longing, amusement, giddiness and fear. 'Shit, I'm actually going to marry the greasy git, Professor Snape,' she realized.  
  
She was unable to formulate any words, even one as simple as 'yes.' She sat, still speechless, for several moments as Severus stood nervously behind her. He chewed his lower lip, uncharacteristically, and sighed before moving to sit in the chair opposite her.  
  
"I'm sorry. You still aren't ready for this are you," he said, it was a statement rather than a question. She continued to stare at him, obviously thinking. He decided that it didn't seem to be a good thought, either. Another sigh escaped him. "Just don't blame Harry, I talked him into it."  
  
Under her intense and blazing gaze, Severus shifted uncomfortably in his seat.  
  
"Gods, Hermione, say something," he pleaded. "People heard me propose, they are watching. Shit, throw the ring back at me, dump the champagne over my head and leave - anything. Don't just sit there."  
  
Hermione finally cracked a small smile that startled him. 'Gods, I'm in for it now,' he thought.  
  
She stood and moved to his side of the table and swiftly threw a leg over him. She settled onto his lap, astride him, and slowly lowered her lips to his. The soft kiss of reunion quickly turned into a deep, passionate kiss. Severus' hands quickly moved down Hermione's back and pulled her hard against him as she moaned slightly and began to rock.  
  
Suddenly, they were aware of a strange noise and abruptly broke the kiss, blushing, as they realized what it was. Applause. Severus ducked his head and looked very uncomfortable, but he attempted to smile at Hermione. Hermione grinned wickedly back at him and at the folks applauding at the closer tables.  
  
"So, I take it that means yes?" he said.  
  
"Yes!" she said, and dipped her head down to capture his lips in yet another blistering kiss. When she let him up for air, he looked dazed, but managed to focus on the waiter that was hovering nearby and looking embarrassed. The waiter took the look as a sign that he could intrude and he sat down a plate full of appetizers that Hermione had apparently ordered.  
  
"Check, please," Severus croaked out when Hermione's hand 'accidentally' brushed his erection as she stood. She returned to her seat and delicately picked up a tasty morsel.  
  
"But our food just got here, Severus," said Hermione, when the waiter returned with the bill. Severus threw down enough money to cover the bill and the young man's embarrassment and grabbed Hermione by the hand, tugging her to her feet.  
  
"Leave the food."  
  
"But, Sev-"  
  
"Leave the food."  
  
Barely making it to the alleyway, Severus pulled Hermione close for another kiss and apparated with her to his quarters at Hogwarts. When he finally let her come up for air, she looked around his living space with interest. It was filled with lighted candles and smelled wonderful, she thought.  
  
Severus smiled as her eyes caught his. He gestured broadly to the glittering candles: "Harry. I do believe he expected you to say yes."  
  
"Well, he knows how I feel about you, Severus."  
  
She tilted her head up in a silent plea for another kiss. Severus, of course, complied. When they were once again breathless, he heard a faint whisper in his ear.  
  
"Do you think he put candles in your classroom for us?" she said.  
  
He stepped back from her with a wary expression.  
  
"Perhaps."  
  
"Should we go check?" she asked, grinning wildly and moving to the door. He stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Hermione," he began, seriously. "We've just become engaged. Are you sure you want to - to, well, fulfill a teenaged fantasy tonight? I was rather thinking candlelight, roses, champagne -"  
  
"But, Professor," said Hermione, pouting. "There's just something about your desk-"  
  
And she quickly retrieved her wand from her purse and flicked it against her dress, which immediately morphed into a Hogwarts uniform - Head Girl badge and all. Severus' eyes darkened with desire.  
  
"I suppose we could save the romance for our wedding night," he said, guiding her backwards towards the door. They stopped when her backside hit the frame. She flipped her wand once again, and Snape was garbed in his best teaching 'bat-robes.' He growled at her and she opened the door and, quickly getting her bearings, flew down the corridor and then down a flight of stairs to the Potions Classroom. Severus was close behind, robes billowing.  
  
"You spent entirely too much time under that Invisibility Cloak with Potter," he grumbled as they neared the classroom, marveling that she knew exactly where she was going when she had never been to his chambers. He shook his head as she pointed her wand at the locked door and said 'Alohomora.'  
  
They reached the room unnoticed, but as Hermione once again captured his lips in a rough and hungry kiss -- Severus fumbled in his sleeve for his wand, aiming it haphazardly at the door for locking and silencing charms. Quickly, without breaking their kiss, Hermione was maneuvered across the room, up the stairs and onto the desk. They continued relearning each others mouths as her sweater came off, the blouse was torn open and Severus discovered that she had neglected to wear any underthings.  
  
"Did you plan this, love?" he whispered into her ear, before nipping it. He slid his hand underneath her skirt and began caressing her. She whimpered and grabbed the back of his neck. Snape and Hermione fell back onto the desk and he swiftly dropped his trousers and entered her. Severus then reared back and continued to caress her through the remains of her uniform as they frantically made love. She came quickly, calling his name loudly, and he followed her moments later. They tried then to catch their breath and grinned at each other. Hermione finally took a moment to look around the classroom and found that it was, indeed, filled with lighted candles. Courtesy of Harry, she thought ruefully.  
  
Severus caught her gaze and merely shrugged.  
  
"I may have mentioned to him that if things went well, we just might come here to celebrate," he said. "Maybe in passing."  
  
After a moment, Hermione laughed and sat up, wrapping her arms around his neck. She shifted slightly to brush his lips with a gentle kiss, causing him to gasp softly.  
  
"So, Professor Snape," she said. "Exactly when are you going to make an honest woman out of me?"  
  
He smiled and shrugged again.  
  
"I thought perhaps over the summer holidays?" he asked, devilishly.  
  
"WHAT?!?" she exclaimed. "I don't think I want to wait that long. We've waited long enough already - how about on Christmas Eve?"  
  
"Aren't you afraid that would be too soon?" he queried, as he began to caress her breasts once again. "I mean, you've kept me waiting all this time -"  
  
Hermione gasped as his hands slid lower, to where they were still joined. She smiled coyly at him and replied: "Well, we've once again managed to forget our potion, so if I'm 7 months pregnant and huge at our wedding, don't blame me."  
  
"Hmmmm," he murmured against her throat, dropping kisses as he went. "Then perhaps Christmas Eve would be appropriate. I'd hate for you to waddle down the aisle. And I do plan to get you pregnant as quickly as possible, my dear Miss Granger."  
  
He slowly began moving in her once more and she lay back on the desk, happily. She watched him for a few moments as his muscles worked while he stood beside the desk. Pulling him down for a very gentle kiss, she was surprised to discover she was crying. Severus looked at her in concern.  
  
"Are you all right, love?" he asked.  
  
"Never better, love," she replied.  
  
She leaned in to whisper into his ear: "And you didn't think this would be romantic." 


	12. Epilogue

EPILOGUE  
  
It was a snowy Christmas Eve afternoon when Severus and Hermione said their vows. Dumbledore had been thrilled to offer the Great Hall and his services for the joining. Severus had caved in and consented to wearing a rich velvet set of green dress robes, while Hermione harkened back to her Muggle heritage and wore an ivory lace gown for the ceremony which she capped off with a delicate, ivory silk robe for the dinner reception and dance.  
  
Severus smiled as he looked at a wizard photo of them, taken during their first dance as husband and wife. They were swaying slowly and looking lovingly into each others eyes. Occasionally, photo-Severus would lean down to whisper into his bride's ear, causing her to blush prettily. He remembered now, almost a full year later, exactly what he had been suggesting to his new wife. Despite their extremely enjoyable sex life during the rocky courtship, he was surprised to see that they both had a few tricks up their sleeves for the wedding night. Their first night as husband and wife was spent in a small cottage in Italy. It was romantic and rustic - and very well suited for the passionate night. He smiled again and placed the wedding photo back on the shelf in their living room. Just thinking about that perfect night was enough to arouse him, he mused, chuckling to himself.  
  
Then, reality hit him and he wondered if he'd ever have sex again.  
  
Last night, Hermione had made it very clear that if he ever touched her again, he would be given a free castration. She said she didn't love him anymore. She told him to leave and never come back. She looked at him with pain and -and, disgust.  
  
Severus shook his head slowly and went to sit in front of the roaring fireplace. He looked around at the house he and Hermione had spent so much time making into a home and sighed. He knew she didn't mean any of it. He knew it. He heard a door click shut and his head sank to rest in his hands.  
  
"Severus, she didn't mean it," chuckled Dumbledore, patting the younger man on the shoulder.  
  
"I know."  
  
"But?"  
  
"It's hard to hear anyway," sighed Severus. "I waited a long time for all of this and -"  
  
"Severus, almost all women react that way during childbirth. You were the one that was so enthusiastic about an unmedicated, unspelled, natural birth. Didn't anyone warn you how she may react to the overwhelming pain?" asked Dumbledore, smiling gently.  
  
"No. Yes. Well, it just -"  
  
"Hurt your feelings?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
Just then a rather angry male voice sounded from their master bedroom.  
  
"SNAPE! Get your ass up here! Now!"  
  
Exchanging a look of concern, Dumbledore and Snape clasped hands and apparated quickly into Hermione and Severus' room. Hermione was lying on the bed; giggling and munching on a bowl of popcorn while the great Harry Potter struggled with -  
  
"A diaper?" laughed Dumbledore. "You yelled for that?"  
  
Severus smiled at the young man as Harry delicately wiped poop from his fingers. Walking to him, he swiftly cleaned Harry and the squirming newborn with a charm and then expertly diapered and redressed the baby. Harry just looked at the new father in awe.  
  
"You'll get the hang of it someday, Harry," Severus said. "I have many nieces and nephews, so I have had plenty of practice."  
  
Dumbledore gestured to Harry that it was time for them to go. Harry kissed the baby and Hermione and followed the old wizard out the door. Severus carefully carried his son to the bed and stretched out next to his wife.  
  
"I love you, Severus," Hermione sighed, leaning to him and snuggling on his shoulder.  
  
"Are you sure? You're not mad at me? I mean, it's my fault you were in so much pain yesterday," Severus said, refusing to meet her eyes.  
  
"I'm sure. It was awful, but I wouldn't change a thing. Just look at our little angel," she said, cooing to the baby. "We never did agree on a name, Severus."  
  
"I don't want him to be named after me," he said, calmly. She pouted. "No, Hermione, that won't work. Quit batting your eyelashes!"  
  
Hermione giggled again and popped some popcorn into Severus' mouth.  
  
"How about William?"  
  
An eyebrow quirked at her in surprise.  
  
"I was sure you would suggest Harry," he said.  
  
"William Harry?" she teased.  
  
"No. Gods, no."  
  
"Willam Severus Albus Snape?" she asked, timidly.  
  
He just smiled at looked down at his sleeping son. Then he nodded.  
  
"He looks like a William, don't you think?" he asked.  
  
"He looks like you, Severus. I couldn't ask for anything more."  
  
"I do love you, Hermione."  
  
"And I love you, Severus."  
  
  
  
End. 


End file.
